Rhythm of Love
by Shiningheart of ThunderClan
Summary: You've seen it before, but never like this. Digimon: Frontier with my OC, Alex Cardon.
1. All Aboard!

Me: Lordy, I need to start working on my other fanfictions, but this one is just too damn amusing to not write! Seriously, every time I read one of those fanfictions where they retell the story with an OC or a twist, I subconsciously insert my own OC. So I just went 'fuck it' and started writing this. There are going to be some tweeks to fit my own needs. Read and review, please!

DISCLAIMER: Shiningheart of ThunderClan does not own Digimon. She forgets the name of the dude that does, but it most certainly isn't her. The only thing mentioned in this story she does own is Alex, and she's way too annoying for Shiningheart to be proud of. XD

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><p>CHAPTER ONE: All aboard!<p>

A loud yawn escaped me, causing my already cracked lips to crack even further. "God, I'm bored." I complained to my life-long best friend, Takuya Kanbara. The brunette sat next to me on his couch, feet propped up on the wooden table and arms crossed behind his head. "Dude, your parents throw lame birthday parties." I grumbled quietly to him. Didn't want to offend the adults that were like second parents to me, after all.

Takuya shrugged his shoulders without moving. "You're the one that decided to come over without telling me. You're just lucky that Mom already knew you would probably crash, or else I'd have kicked your ass out of here long ago!"

Yeah right, you twit. You couldn't kick me out even if you tried. I mirrored his shrug and said, "Your fault for not telling me about Shinya's birthday party. And hey, why stick around my house with She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named when I can hang out with you and siphon off that musical genius of yours?" This, of course, was said with sarcasm as I gestured to the blank music sheet in front of us. Takuya had about as much musical prowess as a bowl of fruit.

He gave me a blank look that pretty much PROVES that I was right about him being able to read minds when his phone went off. "Huh? A message..." he said while picking it up.

"No shit Sherlock." I said, leaning on his shoulder to get a look. The words 'Do you want to start?' were blinking up at us. Beneath it had two choices, YES and NO. "Jeeze, somewhere in the world is someone more bored than us. Who would have thought it?" He shrugged at me, inadvertently knocking me off of his shoulder, and pressed YES. "What the hell, fool? Did you even check if it had a return number?"

Takuya rolled his eyes at me and said, "Hey, you were the one who said you were bored. It's better than just sitting around here doing abso-freaking-lutely nothing."

Then the phone beeped and a voice spoke. "Takuya Kanbara." Both of us jumped, shared an incredulous look, and stared back at the phone. "It's time to decide your future, Takuya." God damn my parents for taking away my cell phone. It sounds like a chain message, but a pretty cool one all the same. "Your destiny is calling. Take the 5:45 outbound train."

The words_ Take the 5:45 Shibuya bound train from Jiyuugaoka Station _were displayed proudly on the screen. The voice said no more. Before I could even begin to think about it, Takuya had all of my stuff packed into my bag and hauled me to my feet. "Dude, this is easily the most awesome thing that's ever happened to us, Alex!" He pulled me to the door while yelling back to his mom, "Going out with Alex, Mom! Be back later!" He bounced back and forth from foot to foot while waiting for me to finish putting on my shoes, going "Come on, come on, come on..." the entire time.

The minute both feet were covered with my sneakers, he had my arm once again in his hand and dragged me bodily from his house. A full ten minutes involving a near death experience later, we just barely made the station. He pulled me in front of the ticket dispenser and turned out both of our pockets, me protesting when he suddenly shoved his hand in my jacket pocket. Can you say pocket rape, anyone? "Oh well, we don't have any money. Such a damn shame." I shook my head solemnly. "Can we go home now?" Just as I ask, everything goes haywire. The machines flashed lights and the buttons lit randomly. Tickets start spewing everywhere, and Takuya snatched two out of the air before grinning triumphantly at me. "Dammit." I grumbled as he tugged me again.

We just barely got through the doors before they closed, and I slumped against them while Takuya put his hands on his knees. Both of us were panting. "Congratulations, we're on the train." I growled to him, frustration making me sharp. "Your destiny damn well better be kick ass, Kanbara, or else your ass is grass." With that, I looked around. The part of the train we'd entered was sort of packed, but not really. There was enough elbow room, but you couldn't see everyone all at once. I caught a flash of a startlingly familiar navy-and-yellow bandanna before Takuya's phone beeped again, as well as everyone else's. "What now?" I groaned, dragging myself to my feet.

Takuya shrugged while taking his phone out of his pocket and flipped it open to reveal a symbol. Huh... I hadn't noticed that before. Weird... "Transfer to the 6:00 west-bound train." the voice said. Like last time, the words _Transfer to the 6 o'clock subway from Shibuya station_. My best friend whined angrily and glared at the small device in his hand. "Oh, come on! We- or at least _I_- am doing the best I can here!" Someone in the crowd caught his attention, and he craned his head to see over everyone else's. I don't see how that would help since he's shorter than even me, for God's sake... "I wonder if that kid got one too..." he muttered under his breath.

I tried to see who might have caught his interest. But then the doors opened and I was once again unceremoniously dragged out of the doors. "Ow, ow, ow, let go Takuya!" I cried, trying to keep up. "Damn it, I'm not as fit as you!" I snapped, glaring at the hand around my wrist. He's just lucky that looks can't burn limbs...

"Almost there..." he panted, ignoring me. He shoved passed everyone to make a path for us through the crowds, making his way to the elevators. We broke through the mass of irritated persons just as that same unnervingly familar bandanna entered one. "Hey, hold the elevator!" Takuya yelled out.

The doors started to close. I don't know how and I don't know why, but I suddenly felt an inward pull forward. I _needed_ to get on that elevator. With a spontaneous burst of speed, I passed Takuya and zipped through the doors, just as they started to close. Ignoring the boy already there, I watched my best friend. "Run, bitch, run!" I yelled, cupping my hands around my mouth.

Takuya launched himself forward when the doors were a mere three feet apart. I reached a hand out, grabbed his wrist, and pulled him in just as the doors closed all of the way. His face hit the glass windows on the back and I worried for a second that his hard head would crack the glass. The only thing hurt was apparently his face, because he held it in his hands for a minute before glaring at me through his fingers. "Jeeze, that hurt... Thanks a lot, Alex!"

I stuck my tongue out at him before turning to observe our silent companion. As soon as I saw the black hair and cobalt eyes, I knew why the bandanna had seemed so familar. _'Oh fucking hell, it's Kouji Minamito! Shit, Cecil would piss her frilly little skirt if she knew I was this close to her idol!'_ I opened my mouth- why, I didn't know- when the elevator shook. I stumbled, crashing against the wall next to Kouji. All three of us braced ourselves and looked up to the ceiling to see the lights flicker. I felt myself pale and whimpered the only thing I really could at that moment. "Fucking hell, we're all gonna die."

The lights shut off entirely and the elevator picked up speed until it felt like we were free-falling. "SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT!" It came as a chant to me. I clung to the railing as tightly as I could, really not wanting to die. I was too young to die! There were still things I wanted to do before I was tossed into the fiery pits of hell!

Amazingly enough, it was Kouji who responded to my cursing. "Would you shut the hell up girl? You're giving me a headache." And the way he said it too, it was all blase and nonchalant and casual and _totally like we weren't falling to our deaths._ Well, excuse me for worrying for all of our lives! We're probably being lured into a trap by a serial child rapist who's going to do horrible and unmentionable things to us before chopping up our bodies and sending the bits back to our parents one by one!

We came to a painful and sudden stop, Takuya flailing about and falling back onto his head. "Ow..." he moaned for the thousandth time that day. "Man, I really have to stop landing on my head..."

Panting for breath and willing my heart rate to drop down, I said sarcastically, "That might have been useful for the hundreds of times you were dropped on your head as a baby." He scowled at me for a second before the doors hissed open. For a moment, smoke blocked our vision before it faded and both of us gasped in shock and wonder. "Woah..."

The first thing to catch my attention was all of the kids. Boys and girls, teenagers and children, skirts and dresses and pants... There was every style of clothing ever invented. I saw nerds, geeks, girly girls, emos, and every other clique that shouldn't have developed until high school. There must have been at least a hundred of us there. How could all of us fit into the basement of a subway? At least, I thought it was a subway... I mean, it wasn't like I had time to look at a directional before coming down here.

Kouji bolted passed us and into the crowd, weaving his way through children until I couldn't see him anymore. "H-Hey wait, what train are you taking!" Takuya shouted out. He didn't get an answer and I wasn't expecting one. "Jeeze, my phone talks more than that guy..." Don't be offended Takuya. That guy doesn't speak to anyone.

The huge clock that hung over everyone chimed and doors all around us closed. The trains, one by one, started to leave the boarding area. "Shit, shit, shit!" I once again chanted. I ran to the closest one, one of the last to leave, and stretched out my hand. Takuya passed me easily. He grabbed the bars at the back and turned, stretching out a hand to grab on to me and haul me aboard. Much like he did upstairs, I lunged for him and he pulled me up beside him. I felt his warm breath panting across my neck, and I forced myself to ignore the shivers his closeness caused. "Thanks buddy."

He nodded slowly, backing away and looking over my shoulder. I turned as well, and saw Kouji on the train next to us. The two had a short staring contest before Kouji broke it to look at me for the first time. Recognition flared like a bottle rocket for the brief moment our eyes met before we were separated by a wall.

My heart felt like it was lodged my throat. Bloody hell, he recognized me! I didn't think he was paying attention in any of our classes together! Holy crap... Please tell me Takuya didn't notice... The one glance I risked at him didn't say he suspected anything. He led the way into the first cart and looked around at the empty seats. "Huh, there's no one here..."

I cleared my throat inconspicuously and shoved my heart back down to my chest. "Or maybe they're just invisible." It was a pathetic attempt at sarcasm, and Takuya's curious glance confirmed it. I grinned at him self-consciously before brushing passed him to the door for the next cart. I figured it would be empty as well, so imagine my surprise when I opened the door to find three other kids already there.

On my right was a girl, the only other one on the train besides me. She was decked head to toe in lavender. She had a hat on her head that had a dark blue stripe on the hem, and it covered most of her dark blonde hair. The rest of it hung down to her shoulder blades. She had on a blue-and-white short sleeved shirt that showed her belly, and a lavender vest that was more for fashion than warmth, though the hood on it could at least do something for her. A lavender skirt stopped down by her knees, and just below them were long socks. Oddly enough, they looked like the same shade of dark blue on her hat. White shoes completed her attire.

Subject number two, the only one on my right, was a decidedly plump boy. He sat directly across from the girl and was dressed in a blue-and-yellow jumpsuit. He had brown hair cut short and brown eyes that were currently observing me and Takuya warily, much like the same way I was observing all of them. He passed over Takuya indifferently, though he smirked as he looked me over. I'm guessing he liked what he saw.

The third kid sat on my left beyond the girl. He was the youngest of us there, much younger than me and Takuya. A giant fluffy hat shielded his head from view. His shoulders, though, were trembling. It looked to me like he was trying not to cry. His shirt was short-sleeved and white, with dark green lining the sleeve ends and the hem, as well as the collar. He wore light green pants that only reached about his shins and white and green shoes. Just looking at the small child tugged at my heart strings. "Erm... Hiya everyone!" I said nervously. Everyone but the child blinked as I gave a small finger wave. "My name is Alex. This here is my buddy, Takuya Kanbara." I slapped Takuya on the arm and he mumbled his own greeting, rubbing the place where I'd hit him.

Takuya looked back and forth between the thick-set one and the girl. "You guys here because of the phone thing?" he asked, waving his phone at them like they didn't know what a phone was. I swear, sometimes I wonder why he's my best friend... They both nodded anyway, and the girl said, "With them here, it makes five of us. I wonder if that means something special..."

You have no idea how hard I kept from making a sarcastic comment right then. Takuya sent me a sharp look like he knew what I was thinking and looked back to them. "Why'd you guys get on this train? Was it the message?"

The jumper dude brandished his bar of chocolate like a weapon while saying in a bored-like tone, "Hey kid, this was the closest train to the elevator, okay? Now look, just leave me alone." Takuya jerked back like he'd been stung, and I glared at jumper dude. He didn't have to be rude about it... Apparently he realized his mistake and shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, I'm just nervous."

Takuya said nothing to it, but turned to look at Blondie. "What about you? There must be a reason why you chose to get on this particular train." Well look at you, buddy! First date and you're already trying to impress her with big words!

Blondie shrugged her shoulders with a smile and said, "Sorry, I'm like him. This was the closest one of the elevator." Takuya looked put out for a bit. What was he really expecting? That they'd all received some mystical shaman message telling them to get on this particular train? ... That was actually probably way closer to the truth than either I or Takuya would like to admit.

Jumper got a look over his face that made me cringe. He leaned a bit towards Takuya and said, "Hey, watch this," before saying to Blondie, "Hey honey, want some chocolate?" She shook her head politely and Jumper shoved Takuya out of his way while standing. Takuya yelped a bit and staggered. Probably would have fallen too, what with his lack of grace, if I hadn't caught him. Jumper didn't seem to care much about Takuya's glare at his back. "So, my name is JP. What's yours, cutie?"

Blondie smiled and waved. "Hi, my name is Zoe. Nice to meet you!" She said something in Italian and looked surprised when I returned the foreign greeting. "Oh, are you Italian too?"

I smiled at her and shrugged sheepishly. "French, actually. My full name is Alexandra Cardon, but I prefer Alex. And this is Takuya!" He waved a bit, looking a little lost and awkward. But he's always a little lost and awkward, so that's not saying anything new. I swiftly got behind him and pushed him forward, wearing an impish grin. "And just because I feel like being annoying, he's single."

Takuya gaped at me with a slight pink tinge to his tanned face. "ALEX!" he roared, trying to turn around and hit me. But I stayed to his back the entire time and laughed when he gave up with a pout. "You're mean to me, you know that?"

With a cackle and a twirl from behind his back, I planted my ass next to the giggling Zoe. "That's what happens when you grow up together, Taki. You get both the good and the bad." I used his childhood nickname with a smile and a laugh, and the pink tinge appeared on his ears too. "Wow, that's twice in the past five minutes I've made you blush. New record!"

He scowled at me again and was about to retort before a quivering voice interrupted what would have no doubt dissolved into an argument. "I-I'm Tommy. But I didn't want to get on this train. T-Two bullies..." He broke off with a small sob before continuing, "Th-they pushed me onto this train." He looked up at us then and revealed teary green eyes. "Why are kids always picking on me?" And with this loud exclamation, the boy named Tommy burst into loud tears.

Without me knowing it, my feet carried me to his side and I sat next to him. I put my arm around his shoulders and pulled him to my side, and the kid freaking latched on to me. He bawled loudly into my shoulder, soaking my shirt with his tears. Just under his sobbing, I heard JP mutter, "Oh great, a crybaby..." I'd hit him if I didn't have a small child attached to me...

Ignoring the others for now, I rocked Tommy back and forth while whispering words of comfort to him. "Sh, I'm here Tommy. Don't worry, I'll protect you. I won't let anyone else hurt you ever again." His sobs dulled down to slight sniffling. "There you go. Feeling better buddy?"

He nodded and pulled back, rubbing at his eyes and staring at the floor shamefully. "Yes, thank you. I'm sorry about your shirt." I shrugged it off and leaned back against my seat, turning to look out the window. There wasn't really anything to see though, everything was pitch black. He peaked up at me from under his head in such an adorable way that I almost squealed and hugged him again. He rubbed his arm nervously as he asked, "Did... Did you mean it? Will you stop people from bullying me?"

It was enough to make up my mind and I smiled at him. "I've been taught not to make promises I might not be able to keep, but I will make this one promise to you." I stood up and knelt down so that he didn't have to look up and I was on eye level with him. "So long as we're friends, I'll protect you the best I can. This I promise you. And I always keep my promises to my friends."

He wiped at his eyes a bit more before returning my smile when the train suddenly jerked. All of us fell over with varied yells and shouts, and Tommy fell over onto my middle. I instinctively held him to me to protect him and looked around to find Takuya. He and the others were all on the ground as well. When he spotted me looking at him, he reached out like he was going to try and shield me.

That's when I got a shock. Something that looked like an after-image appeared over him. A guy in red armor with blonde hair, superimposed over Takuya... On a whim, I looked over everyone else. Zoe had a girl with purple hair and pink armor with fairy wings and JP had a blue-and-yellow armored guy that had a helmet shaped like a beetle's horn. A glance down showed that Tommy was a white polar bear looking thing with a green headband.

What. The. Hell. What the hell. WHAT THE HELL? Dude, what the hell... Yeah, you can tell that that's pretty the only thing I'm capable of thinking. Takuya seemed to be the only one else to see these images, because he looked down on his hand like he'd never seen it before. That's an idiotic thought though, because it's his hand. All of their cell phones lit up then, and I picked Tommy up and rushed to Takuya's side just as it began to change.

Takuya's cell morphed in a neat little doohickey. It was red and black with silver buttons, and was smaller but bulkier than it's original form. The same voice from earlier came out of it now. "Welcome to your destiny, Takuya. This is your d-tector."

I shivered at the ominous words, and pressed closer to Takuya for comfort. "That... That's kind of creepy..." He nodded silently, seemingly unable to come up with any words. Sunlight suddenly flooded into the windows, which is kind of weird since we were underground not even five minutes ago.

Apparently, I was the only one who noticed the sunlight. Takuya lifted his head towards everyone else and asked, "Did anyone else get that message?" No one answered him, being too busy staring at their own devices- what did that lady call them, d-tectors? I didn't even notice their phones change as well. Tommy's was green and white, Zoe's was lavender and white, and JP's was blue and yellow. I felt a bit left out, since I didn't get one. But then again, my phone was left at home. Maybe I'll get one later, since I didn't have a phone to magically transform.

A loud noise echoed everywhere, and everyone covered their ears. It sounded like a poorly imitated train whistle, and I took advantage of the fact that Tommy's ears were covered to yell, "OI, IF YOU'RE GONNA FUCK WITH US, AT LEAST USE SOME ORIGINALITY!" Once the sound faded, everyone uncovered their ears and looked out the windows. JP cried out in shock and I, completely abandoning my best friend, rushed to see what caused him yell. "DUDES, THERE ARE FLOATING MARSHMALLOWS OUTSIDE!"

And there _were_. Little white blobs floated all around our train, just floating or zipping around. I never wished more than that moment that I could fly. Then I'd just jump out of the train and chase after them and eat them until I exploded from the fluffy marshmallowy goodness... That's when one of them turned around. It had a face. Upon a closer evaluation, I discovered that all of them had faces. Well, fuck me. That means I can't eat them. Le sigh...

Everyone else crowded around the windows as well, exclaiming both shock and fear over the blobs. One floated to the window closest to Zoe. For a few seconds, girl and blob looked curiously at each other. Then blob pressed close to the window, and girl winced. Blob pressed closer until he looked kinda creepy, and Zoe flinched back. Rinse and repeat left blob making a Troll Face, causing Zoe to screech out loud. I only pointed and laughed at it, making my own face back.

Zoe's screech made all of the blobs leave, though. I pouted and glared at her half-heartedly until Takuya said, voice quivering with fear, "Maybe they're the ghosts of the kids who've been here before! Ah man, what _have_ I gotten us into, Alex!"

He turned his pleading eyes to me for an answer, but I only glared. His mention of ghosts had caused Tommy to whimper and huddle closer to my side. "Well, at least you take responsibility for your idiocy. Next time, though, bite your tongue off. You scared Tommy, you nitwit!"

He ducked down like he was afraid I was going to hit him, then stood straight and blinked when no such thing came. "Wow, you didn't hi- OW!" He rubbed his arm where my fist had just connected and glared at my smirk. You'd figure that, being my best friend since before we could walk, he'd be used to my little quirks and oddities. But no, this is Takuya we're talking about. He wouldn't notice a rampaging rhino if it came right up behind him and bit him in his ass.

After a bit of our usual bickering, everyone went back to looking out the windows. Zoe pointed and said, "Hey, look!" We did. I was fully prepared to see nothing and hear Zoe go 'ha ha, made you look!' because that's totally what I would do. But I'm an idiot, so that's probably just me. Well, me and Takuya. We're both idiots. Must make the rest of the world seem a hell of a lot smarter. Instead, we saw metal buildings with train tracks crisscrossing everywhere. "I bet that's the train station! I hope there aren't any more of those ghost things around..." For the love of- they weren't ghosts, people! Ghosts don't exist. And even if they were, they would have just floated right through instead of pressing up against the glass.

The train pulled in to the station and stopped with a groan that I told myself was just the metal cooling back down and not the train itself, as it sounded like. The door opened on it's own and we all crowded around for our first look at this new place to be met with roundish, grayish creatures that were both adorable and creepy at the same time. They had floppy ears and red eyes that seemed to stare straight into my soul... Or that's just me being dramatic... Yeah, probably just me being dramatic...

The creatures all looked at us and were speaking at the same time. "Human kids!" "Someone to play with!" "Just don't break them this time!" The last sentence caused me to tense up and glare while they all chuckled to themselves, and what very evil chuckles they seemed to be. Forget that part where I said they were somewhat adorable. Now I just want to punt the little gray bastards in the face...

Smoke built up behind us all and pushed us out of the train. Gravity was defied when we were all picked up in the air and deposited in an undignified pile in the middle of the creatures. A voice came from no where, a gravelly one that gave the distinct impression of a chain smoker. "Yeah, that first step's a doozy."

A glance to all of the D-tector carriers told me that it wasn't coming from any of them. While we picked ourselves up, Takuya stared at the train with widened brown eyes. "Um... Is it just me or did the train just talk?" We followed his gaze to see a face on the train. It had four eyes that I had first thought were just lights back in the basement of the station, and a full set of teeth that looked scary.

Those eyes shifted towards us, and I abandoned all pretenses of dignity and jumped behind Takuya with a squeal. Trains. Should. Not. Have. Eyes! "Hey, I'm not just any ol' train! I'm a Trailmon! And I'm alive just like you! Although I am way more handsome than you scrunched up little pugs, thank you very much!"

I took that as an insult. I am not a pug, thank you very much! I stuck my head out from under Takuya's arm and stuck my tongue out at this Trailmon. "I'm not a pug, you asswipe! If I'm gonna be called any dog breed, I'd prefer a collie or a husky, thank you very much!"

The eyes seemed to focus on me for a bit, causing me to squeak and go back to hiding behind him. Thank the Gods for Taki's hero complex, or else he probably would have pushed me away from him when I first ducked behind him. "Uh... Right... Well, anyway," Trailmon seemed to ignore my outburst in favor of informing us, "this here is Flame Terminal. You're in the heart of a digimon village."

So, let's sum this up. We have no idea where we are, how we got here, why we're here, what we're here for, and this guy- who happens to be a talking train, which, in case you were wondering, _just isn't natural-_ expects us to know what a digimon is. In three words, here's our situation: What. The. Fuck. The little gray bastards surrounded us then and jostled around for a bit, grumbling all the while among themselves. "Hey there pals!" The lead thing said to us. "Our last friends didn't last very long."

We all went back to back instinctively, and I made sure to put Tommy between Takuya and I. There was no way I was going to let him get hurt if I could help it. JP fidgeted nervously and said, "Uh, I've got enough friends..."

Tommy burst into loud sobs again and wailed, "I didn't even want to be on this train!" You know, my maternal instincts to quell his sobbing aside, I could see why that would get on anyone's nerves.

Smoke started to appear from beneath Trailmon again, and he started to slowly back away from us on the train tracks. "Sorry you feel bad kiddo, but I can't stick around. If you wanna go home, you'll have to find a spirit or something!"

Zoe stomped one of her pretty little boots and shrieked after him, "What's a spirit? And where do we get one?" Trailmon picked up speed until he was chugging backwards. "Hello?"

JP backed Zoe up and yelled, "Where're you going? Give us an answer! Hey!"

"Hey yourself!" I had to strain my ears to pick up the words Trailmon shouted back at us, he was so far away. My head was beginning to hurt just listening to this. "I've got a schedule to keep!" And Trailmon is going... going... he's gone, ladies and gentlemen! Let's hear it for JP and Zoe, king and queen of Chase-Off-Our-Only-Way-Home-opolis!

A disgruntled silence fell over us as we all mulled over our thoughts with Tommy still sobbing. We were alone in a foreign land with little devices we knew nearly nothing about and no way to get back. Since their cell phones aren't phones anymore, we don't even have a way to contact our families. Who knew when we were going to be able to go home, or if that was even an option anymore? Takuya was the first to break the silence with a sigh, and all he said was, "Well, that's it then. We're all alone..."

I felt Tommy quivering again a minute before he renewed his sobs. "Take me home!" He ducked beneath my arms when I tried to hug him and jumped down to the train tracks. My heart literally stopped for a moment in my chest. Did nobody ever tell him how dangerous it was to play on the train tracks? People have died that way! There's glass and sharp rocks and... and... And that's just in our world! Who knew how things worked in the digital one?

Due to my temporary paralysis, Takuya was the one to chase after him. "Hey Tommy, come back! You're going to give Alex a heart attack!" Yes, that's wonder, tell the hysterical child that the only reason you're chasing after him is to save your best friend from imminent demise. That will go over well. NOT.

Through Tommy's sobs, I heard, "Go away!" He started to walk on the single railing that was suspended in the air with his arms thrown to the side for balance. My hand went to cover my mouth so fast that I think I cut my lip on a tooth. He's either really desperate to get away from us or just not thinking correctly at the moment.

Takuya stopped running when he got the edge. At least that's one thing to be grateful for. For a minute I thought that he'd chase after him on the railing. But he's not that stupid, despite what I may say when making fun of him. "Tommy, this isn't helping! You're going to fall!"

The child's reply chilled my heart. "At least I won't be here!" Did he really not like life enough to fall to his death? We didn't even know how far the fall would be. I eyed the drop beneath the two boys fearfully and shivered. I couldn't speak for Tommy's balance, but I knew that Takuya occasionally had bouts of clumsiness when he wasn't playing soccer. What would I do if he tripped...

I saw Takuya's fist clench. I didn't know if it was in fear or frustration but, given the circumstances, I could be decently sure that it was a fair mixture of both. "I-I'll take you home!" Tommy stopped walking and Takuya blundered on. "Y-Yeah! That Trailmon said that all we have to do to go back is find a spirit, right?"

No one saw me wince. It was a stupid thing to promise him. None of us knew what a spirit was or where to get one. Who knew how long it could take us to find it? It could take ages to even get a whiff of one, let alone actually obtain it. By that time, who knows what Tommy will feel like?

To my relief, Tommy looked over his shoulder and nodded. "Right... Okay, I'm coming back." He started to turn around. My relief turned to horror when Tommy stumbled over his own feet and nearly fell off, only to catch himself and climb back up.

My heart pounded, harder than ever before. I wondered if it would give out soon and murmured to whoever would hear, "Holy fucking God, this kid's going to give me a fucking heart attack before we even find a damned spirit!"

I barely heard Zoe give an agreement before Takuya shouted out to Tommy, "Stay there, I'm coming to you!" I know that I originally said that I was glad Takuya stopped, but now I wish he'd at least gone half-way. I knew that I wouldn't calm down until they were both safe. For the first time in a long while, I cursed my maternal instincts to the fiery depths of hell for making me care about strangers.

Takuya took one step forward and the area to the left of us all burst into emerald flames. Two weird looking creatures- more digimon, most likely- ran frantically away from the fire and crashed into Takuya, sending all three to the ground. I was already moving forward to check on them, conveniently forgetting that the gray blobs were blocking my way, when Takuya sat up. One of the digimon- a white one with a pink waist-band- pulled out a magnifying glass from his waist-band. "Oh, it's a human."

The other one, a yellow rabbit with red pants, said, "You think everything's a human."

The shorter one glared at the rabbit and huffed. "Don't start with me, you!"

My best friend sat looked back and forth between the two. I could tell from his expression that he was torn between amusement, shock, and disbelief. All three, I could understand. Amusement because that sounded like an argument we would have, shock because he'd just been tackled to the ground, and disbelief because... well... they were freaking _digimon_. "Yeah, I'm human. Now can you get off of me?"

The white one looked like he was about to reply when something stepped out of the green fire, growling. I barely heard Takuya question what it was, caught up as I was in examining the new creature. It looked like it had three heads, but a closer look revealed that the two heads to the side weren't alive, just armored plates for his shoulders. He had two pairs of claws on each paw, one natural set and another that looked like sharpened knives meant for ripping stabbing and tearing. White hair came from behind a helmet fitted to his head, which looked like a dog.

All in all, my terror for my best friend and the little boy grew. I knew Takuya was strong. I've never been able to beat him at wrestling once in our entire lives together, and him playing soccer really helped his muscles. But how was he supposed to fight that... that... whatever it was? The white creature answered Takuya's question in an informational tone of voice, sounding like he was reading from a book. "That is one bad dog. Cerberumon, special attack is Emerald Blaze." That explains the green fire, at least... "And that's why we need your help."

Cerberumon spoke in a gravelly voice that sent my form quaking. "Where's the ancient spirit?"

He took a step forward threateningly, making the two digimon in front of Takuya jump behind him and clutch at his shoulders. "So whenever you're ready, go and get him!" The yellow rabbit agreed in a voice squeaky from fear, sounding more like a mouse than a rabbit. Then again, I've never heard a rabbit make a noise, so I couldn't really compare the two...

The ferocious-looking digimon took another step forward. "I can sense the spirit's presence all over this town. I must destroy it! Tell me where it is!"

Takuya half-sat up and yelled, "No way, it's mine!" The rabbits sent him wide-eyed stares that I'm absolutely sure mirrored my own. What. The. Hell. Takuya, you just went _way_ down on my respect-o-meter. Well, I mean, you're still my best friend, but _what the hell?_ You don't even know what this stupid thing _is_, where to _find_ it, or how to _fight_ this retarded ass mutt-looking thing. And you're claiming this 'spirit' as your own? I said it once, and I'll say it a thousand times more before we die: _you. are. an. i-di-ot._

At least he had the presence of mind to laugh nervously when Ceberumon growled at him again. "Then you shall be destroyed along with it! _Emerald Blaze!" _At the shout, all of the digimon surrounding me, Zoe, and JP all dove for cover under the platform we stood on. I started to run forward as soon as the way was clear, but JP snatched the back of my hoody and kept me from reaching Takuya.

I almost snarled at him when Ceberumon's attack created two walls of flame around Takuya, blocking off his escape. I swear to every god in the whole damned world, if my best friend is barbecued because JP wouldn't let me go, he'll need to start eating his 20-square-meals through a damned straw! The white digimon on Takuya's shoulders said something that I couldn't hear over the roar of the flames, and Takuya stood up in a panic. His yell was loud enough that I could make it out. "Yeah, but where am I supposed to go?"

A third stream of green fire from Ceberumon went right for him, and he dove to the side desperately. He went right through the fire wall and, luckily, onto the train track where Tommy was watching fearfully. Takuya ran along the tracks clumsily until he reached the child and picked him up. That probably wouldn't do much for his balance, but it made me feel slightly better. At least he hadn't forgotten about Tommy when Ceberumon popped up.

The land between us and them turned pale blue, and it was moving in a constant... stream-looking thing, while giving off a high-pitched humming sound. Ceberumon opened his mouth and I tensed, readying myself for another Emerald Blaze. Instead, he started to suck up the stuff that the ground had turned to, and I heard the white thing with Takuya shout, "That mutt is going to eat up the whole village!" at the same time the yellow bunny said, "And there goes the train tracks."

They started to fall, and JP and I shouted in unison, "TAKUYA!", while Zoe just cried out with an, "Oh no!" They slid down the railing and I turned away, not wanting to see them fall. I heard them screaming and then a grunt and multiple 'oomph's. I looked over the edge, and imagine my surprise when I saw a second level! I almost started crying in relief, and nearly fell over the edge. JP managed to drag me backwards again, and I got control of myself.

A nod of thanks was all he was getting, though. I wouldn't do anything else until Takuya and Tommy, plus maybe those two digimon with them, were safe. A bright beam of light shot from the ground near us, and we all yelled out in shock before running away from it. Not far, but enough that whatever that beam was wouldn't hurt us. I heard the same humming as before, and realized that whatever that light was made from was the same as what Ceberumon had snuffed up.

Speaking of, the mutt had just leaped from his perch to the ground. Rather stupidly in my opinion, I ran to the edge and kneeled down to watch what happened. Takuya and Tommy were both standing and facing Ceberumon. Tommy was hiding behind Takuya, having a hold of his shirt and whimpering. Not that I could hear the whimpering from here, but I assumed that's what he was doing. Takuya glanced at Tommy, and his eyes hardened. I knew, just from that look, that Ceberumon was going to have a fight on his hands. I didn't register the words forming in my mind until I'd whispered them to myself, "Get him, Taki..."

Takuya pushed Tommy away from himself gently and bent down, grabbing a hold of a metal pipe. Ceberumon was charging at him with green fire dribbling from his mouth, like it was spit or something. Takuya shouted out, "This rates pretty high on a scale from one to stupid!" Ceberumon lunged for him and bit down on the pipe. Takuya tried to push him back. I saw the strain on his muscles, but they didn't shake. Shaking meant struggling, and struggling meant possibly losing, and losing meant defeat, and defeat meant... meant... I was almost scared to acknowledge what would happen to them if he lost.

Ceberumon bit right through the pipe and leaped over them all, going straight for the beam of light. Takuya grabbed his tail as it passed them, screaming all the while, and the two of them entered the beam of light. Ceberumon was the only one I could see for a while, and he was standing in front of what looked like a red figurine. I couldn't see any details from where I was. Ceberumon was lit on fire, this time the fire being red instead of his own green. He ran out of the fire and rolled around, howling and whimpering and smoking.

Takuya stood in the middle of the beam, untouched and fine. He looked as puzzled at this as I was. I always knew that he had a thing for fire. I wouldn't really call him a pyro, since he didn't go out of his way to start a fire or stop and stare at it whenever one happened to pop up. Takuya was one of the few people I knew who saw fire as not being destructive, but for giving life and light. Could it be possible that fire returned his affections?

He looked at the figurine in front of him and his eyes glazed over. He threw his arms out to the side and yelled out, "SPIRIT!" His d-tector, which up until this point had been lying on the ground forgotten, floated up and flew into his hand. He pointed it at the figurine with a wordless scream, sucking it up. The same screen lit up with a different symbol than before, but the same voice called out, "It is time."

At that point, a cocoon of the same swirling pale blue light surrounded him. I lost Takuya from my view and started hyperventilating. I was sure my face was as white as a sheet, to use the old cliche. I looked at Tommy to see if he was still okay. Not only was he okay, he was looking at the cocoon with pure amazement on his face. He might have been able to see what was happening inside of it, but I couldn't. The cocoon of light swirled a bit more before breaking up into fragments, revealing Takuya.

Or at least, what _should_ have been Takuya, but most definitely wasn't. It was the same afterimage I'd seen on Trailmon. He was covered in red and yellow armor, the yellow parting having the pattern of flames on them. Whatever wasn't covered in armor was striped black and white. There was a belt around his waist with a buckle on it. There was a symbol on the buckle, but I couldn't see it. The only reason I knew it was there was because it was faintly glowing. His hair had gone from short and brown to long and blonde. In a short phrase... Takuya looked bad-ass. Way more than before he'd made his transformation.

Zoe and JP were on their knees by my side, both as wide-eyed and staring as I was. "No way..." JP breathed out in awe.

Zoe answered in the same tone of voice. "Every way." It's nice to know that I wasn't delusional and seeing things. Then again, maybe we'd all been knocked into comas when we fell on the train and now we're all sharing the same dream.

My trance-like state was broken by the white creature calling out, "Agunimon!" He had a book that I hadn't seen earlier open, and Tommy and the rabbit were both peering over his shoulders. "The legendary warrior of flame!"

Legendary who-ey of what-y? Sorry, the only legendaries that I know of are in Pokemon, and I've never heard any of them being referred to as a 'warrior of flame', even the fire types. Ceberumon finally stood up, a snarl on his face. "No matter who you are, you'll lose!" He leaped for Agunimon, but I felt no fear for him. I knew instinctively that this new transformation would give him the boost he needed to fight.

Ceberumon let loose an Emerald Blaze attack right where Agunimon was standing, only for him to flip out of the way. The Takuya I knew couldn't even somersault properly, so I felt fairly safe in assuming this new skill of flips-and-shit was due to the spirit. Agunimon picked up Tommy and the two small digimon and leaped out of the hole with an ease that shocked everyone, including myself. He deposited his cargo in front of us. I didn't even think before nearly crushing Tommy in a hug. With a growl that sounded nearly too much like my mother, I said to the small boy, "You and I shall have words after this, Tommy." He nodded against my belly, still looking up at Agunimon. I met the flame warrior's eyes, surprised further by seeing blue instead of the warm brown I've become used to. "Kick his ass, Taki."

Agunimon nodded and leaped back down with a flip, drawing a small grumble from me and amazed exclamations from Zoe and Tommy. JP looked jealous as all hell. Ceberumon growled again and the heads on his shoulders glowed an unearthly purple, and he shouted out a new attack. "Portals of Darkness!" Holes appeared in the ground, all varying in size. Agunimon had to leap again as soon as his feet touched the ground to keep from falling into one. He repeated this twice before a hole opened up where he would land next. He tried to hang on to the edge, but Ceberumon his his hand with his claws, making Agunimon fall in.

I lost sight of them after Ceberumon leaped in after him and all of the holes closed. I tightened my hold on Tommy, more for my own comfort than for his. I prayed to every God I knew, made promises that I knew I probably wouldn't be able to keep, and even went as far as to threaten the Pope. I just wanted Takuya to be safe, and to come back to me whole and in one piece.

My prayers worked. An explosion came from under the ground, and a tornado of flame appeared in front of us. There were gasps and exclamations galore, before Zoe asked worriedly, "What if he's in trouble?"

Then the tornado faded, showing Agunimon with his foot firmly planted in Ceberumon's stomach. I pointed at them unnecessarily and said sarcastically, "I don't know about you, hon, but I wouldn't exactly call that in trouble."

Ceberumon's eyes glowed white and he yelled out, "A human child defeated me? Noooooo!" More amazed 'woah's and 'awesome's. I was getting annoyed. Didn't these people know any other ways of saying 'kick-ass'? The white digimon, whose name I _still _didn't know, had the best way of putting it. "Well, I must admit, I am impressed."

A ring of pale blue, exactly the same as earlier, appeared around Ceberumon's darkened outline with the hum that was starting to make me twitch. Agunimon held out Takuya's d-tector and said, "Now to take the fractal code!" He pressed a button, making a sparking white light appear at the top, before running it over the... what did he call it? The 'fractal code'? It disappeared into the d-tector and what was left of Ceberumon became a white, glittering egg. The egg flew off into the distance, but my eyes were on Agunimon's form as he floated gently to the ground.

I left Tommy and the others standing there and slid down the hill, landing with a tumble near Agunimon just as the shell of data wrapped around him again and left Takuya in his spot. Takuya was on his hands and knees, panting like he'd just had a work out. Not surprising, considering all that he just did. "Wow, that's tiring..." he muttered, not seeing me standing with him. He looked at his d-tector, which was still clenched in his hands, and continued speaking to himself. "But... but how did I know how to do all that?"

The screen lit up again and the voice said, "You are digidestined, chosen for great things. But don't be frightened. The one who chose you, was you."

Deciding it was time to announce my presence, I spoke. "In other words," I said, smirking at him when he jumped. Idiot can fight a fire-spewing digimon with no problems, but not hear when someone walks up to him. "You fucked yourself over big time, buddy."

Takuya scowled at me for the tenth time that day, before sighing and looking back at his d-tector. "I guess this means we're not going home, huh?" I echoed his sigh and shrugged. I didn't have an answer to give him.


	2. Lobomon, Warrior of Light!

Me: -dances happily- I got two reviews for my first chapter! Awesomeness! Thanks to my friend **Icey** and **Kimiko Heroux** for reviewing!

Disclaimer: Shiningheart doesn't own Digimon. There will be a few references in here to other fandoms, but I don't own them either.

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><p>Chapter 2: Lobomon, Warrior of Light<p>

After much shoving, pushing, and bitching, Takuya and I finally reached the platform the others were waiting on. Takuya seemed to not be entirely over the previous events and collapsed against a wall, staring at his d-tector like it held all of the answers to his questions. "What... What just happened to me?" he asked, sounding dazed. If I wasn't as freaked out as he was, I probably would have sympathized with him a little more.

Zoe has her hands on her hips on her hips and her head cocked to the side, a look of puzzled curiosity in her pretty green eyes. "You mean before or after you turned into a digimon?" Her tone held just enough sarcasm in it to make it a rhetorical question, but not enough to make it sound rude. I'll have to ask her to teach me how to do that. I always seemed to be grounded whenever I use sarcasm on my parents...

Takuya's eyes widened comically in shock. He looked from face to face to face for confirmation. Tommy was looking at him in awed excitement. It was the expression of someone who had just unexpectedly met their favorite celebrity. JP was watching him with a mixture of wariness and curiosity, a look that was both understandable and contridictory. He wanted to know how Takuya did it and what this whole thing was about, but he didn't want to get involved if it proved too dangerous. From the way that Ceberumon was talking, though, this whole adventure that we're being forced into is going to be everything but safe.

I'm not sure what my expression was when Takuya looked at me. Maybe it mirrored JP's or Tommy's, or maybe I was looking concerned and upset. Either way, I nodded when he looked at me. "You looked pretty bad-ass too. Then again, that is most definitely the spirit's fault, since you're actually anything but bad-ass back home." I grinned mockingly when he scowled at me and crossed my arms, just daring him to contridict me. "Don't even try to deny it, Mister Screams-When-The-Merry-Go-Round-Goes-Too-Fast." Zoe quickly looked at me with a wicked grin on her face. "I'll tell you later, doll, promise." I said to her.

My bestest buddy decided to ignore me, which is probably for the best knowing our arguments. He looked back down to his d-tector with that same looked of dazed amazement. "Wow... Me, a digimon?"

The white creature, whose name I _still _don't know, paced back and forth. He reminded me of one of my teachers back home in the way he was standing: back straight, one hand behind him and the other held in the air to emphasize importance. Too bad for the digimon that I dislike that particular teacher immensely. "Yes, my dear boy, through the process of Digivolution." Digimon, digiworld, digivolution... The people who named these things must of had _some_ imagination, huh? They could have used at least _some _originality.

During my thought processs, Takuya was trying to turn into Agunimon. He pressed a single button before his patience, which was already thin to begin with, broke and he started to mess with it even more, yelling at it and pressing all of the buttons he saw. Which was really _really_ stupid, in case you wanted to know. For all he knows, the thing could have a self-destruct button on it, and then we'd be REALLY fucked. "Come on, digivolution start! Operation Turn-Me-Into-A-Digimon is a go!"

Just as I roll my eyes and ready my infamous scathing sarcasm for the idiotic name, a bright like comes from his d-tector and shot into the sky. I yelped loudly- third or fourth time since we've come to this world, so I can already sense my pride and dignity taking a nose dive- and hid behind JP. The large boy glared at me from over his shoulder and shrugged me away. Well, fine then! Karma will teach him a lesson later on how to protect damsels in distress.

Takuya whimpered pathetically as the light became brighter. "Oh man, I think I broke it... Alex, don't tell my mom I broke my phone again, please! I'll be grounded for forever!" If it weren't for the fact that I was freaking out as much as him, I'd have laughed. This was prime black-mail material. Now if only I'd remembered my camera before I left my house for his, then I'd be able to get proof!

The two digimon that hadn't left us since Takuya saved them weren't distressed at all, though. In fact, they were ecstatic. "I knew it! It's the fractal code!" said the white one, pointing to the sky. I hadn't even noticed, but the light that Takuya's device was emitting was transforming into a stream of data that was flying off into the distance. Where the stream ended came a forest. No, I'm serious! Trees, grass, dirt, stones, the whole she-bang was left when the light faded.

The five of us humans were gaping. If it were possible for jaws to hit the ground, ours would have. I'm pretty sure if my eyes were to get any wider, they'd pop out of their sockets. But that would be bloody and gory and something that Tommy totally does not need to see. With a ridiculously huge amount of effort, I picked my jaw up and put my eyeballs back where they should be. "Come on guys" I yelled and started running.

I was barely three yards away when Takuya shot passed me, laughing all the while. I shouted out in surprise and tried to run faster. The next to pass me were the two digimon, who were quickly joined by the surrounding digimon that streamed in through the alleys and streets from all around us. They were laughing as well, though it wasn't difficult to see it was in euphoria instead of to mock like Takuya did.

Then it was Tommy, then Zoe, and even freaking JP leveled with me. The white digimon gave a whoop and yelled out, "It's the dawn of regeneration!"

The yellow bunny digimon followed after with, "No more living in a train station! Trailmon will never go 'woo woo' in my ear again!" I'd thought his voice was just squeaky with fear from Ceberumon's attack. It's actually just naturally high-pitched and squeaky. It reminds me of that one time I accidentally kicked Takuya in the nuts. He was singing soprano for the rest of that day. Ah, the good ol' days...

The white digimon turned to Takuya and said, "Nice going, my human friend! By the way, I am Bokomon, keeper of the book, at your service."

The yellow one followed Bokomon's lead by turning around, still running, and said, "And I'm Neemon, keeper of my pants, also at your service you awesome human!" Oh good, they do have names. I was going to eventually resort to calling Bokomon Radish-Head and Neemon Bunny-chan.

Bokomon ignored his companion in favor of continuing. "On behalf of the Digital World, accept our thanks, O' Human Who Restores What Has Been Lost!"

I almost lost my footing at the title Bokomon gave Takuya. I only tripped, though, so I was able to continue running after them. That didn't stop me from laughing, though. "Yeah, too bad he can't restore the brain cells he's lost from playing video games all day long!"

Takuya glared at me over his shoulder. "You must play more than I do, since you're better then me!" My grin widened into a 'That's What You Think' look, and Takuya turned away with a huff before responding to Bokomon. "Call me Takuya." He glared back at me when I opened my mouth to give them my nickname of him and went on when I closed my mouth. "I still don't know why all this fractal code stuff is such a big deal anyway."

The two digimon shared a surprised look, and Bokomon blinked back at Takuya in shock. "What, you mean you really don't know?" Neemon muttered something to himself in astonishment about Takuya not knowing. They should learn to expect him not to know stuff. I'll be surprised if he ever gets anything more than a lower B on his report cards.

JP, who was running next to Zoe, looked over at the blond and asked her, "Hey, question. Why are we running?"

Over Zoe's responsive shrug, I snapped, "I have a better question. How the hell are you running faster than me?" Maybe Mama has a point when she says that I should start trying to get into shape. I thought that was just her favoring her precious baby Cecil, but if even freaking JP can get ahead of me...

Bokomon reached into his pants and yelled out, "BEHOLD!"

I fell to the ground and covered my face before I could see what he took out. "DUDE, COME ON, WE DON'T WANT TO SEE THAT! WE'RE STILL KIDS!" There was no response. Even the others had stopped running. Then I peeked out from behind my hands and saw Bokomon staring at me oddly, holding a book. Was that was he'd pulled out of his pants? Wasn't he worried about paper cuts? I coughed awkwardly and stood, scratching the back of my head. "Um... Ignore me. Please, Bokomon, continue."

Tommy tugged on JP's shirt and whispered, "Why would us being kids have anything to do with a book?"

JP was giving me a weird look while he answered, "Um... I'll tell you later when you're older, squirt."

Bokomon shrugged and opened his book. Everyone but me crowded around to watch the pages, but I was content standing near the back, just listening to him narrate his story. "Before the evil Cherubimon came, our world was a beautiful place!"

Neemon abruptly broke in with his own little piece. "Flowers, trees, and butterflies!" Bokomon glared at him in reproach and Neemon's ears drooped a little. "Sorry!"

We all started walking again to catch up to the other digimon, and Bokomon continued. "His power made many digimon go wild, and our world started to die. The only way to bring back everything that was lost is with a fractal code."

Takuya stared at his D-Tector again in wonder. "And I made it happen... with this little device..." I sensed more than heard JP perk up, and I glanced behind me to eye him suspiciously. He wouldn't do anything to get anyone hurt or killed, would he? In any case, just to be sure, I slowed myself until I was next to him.

Zoe had her own d-tector out and was looking at it from all angles, eventually putting it up into the air. "Wow. Maybe I can do it too!"

JP swiftly grabbed Tommy's back, and I instinctively stopped and growled at him to let Tommy go. JP didn't noticed and waited until Takuya and the others in the group continued onward. Neither my best friend nor my new ones, namely Zoe and Bokomon and Neemon, seemed to notice we'd gone missing. "Hey, guys, I have an idea." he whispered. He started to walk back towards the town while explaining the basics of his plan. "Step one, figure out how to get home. Step two, get home. Step three, pretend this stupid world never existed."

So basically, JP was being a coward. He was going to run away before any of the danger even appeared. Tommy followed after him, but I turned to watch Takuya and Zoe walk further and further away. If I wanted to go after them, I'd have to go now. But Tommy... I didn't fully trust JP to keep him safe, so I turned back and started to walk after them.

I caught up with them just as JP concluded with, "This place sucks. It sucks with teeth. You guys with me?"

He was met with my stony silence, but Tommy didn't seem as sure or unsure. "Well... I guess. But... Um..." JP gave Tommy an impatient look that made me want to smack him. Never, _ever_, make a child hurry up in front of me. It's a damn good way to get on my bad side, and no one wants to be on my bad side. Takuya says I get scary when I'm playing Mother Goose. "When Takuya changed into that digimon, he looked really cool! He was like a super hero!"

Bite your tongue, Alex. He's a child. He's young. He's innocent. He doesn't know Takuya like you do. He doesn't know that, the last time he tried to play super hero, he had his ass set on fire. That was the day I learned from my Spanish teacher how to say, 'your pants are on fire' in another language. Deep breath, Alex, deep breath. No dying of laughter in front of the others. Go crawl in a hole if you want to kill yourself at your best friend's past expense. Note to self, though, tease him about it later.

JP scoffed at Tommy's excitement. "He didn't look that great." You're just jealous that Takuya saved the day while you sat on your ass eating chocolate.

His response didn't dampen Tommy's enthusiasm, and he turned to look at me with a beam on his face. "I've always wanted to be a hero! Do you think I could, Alex? Do you think I could be a hero too, like Takuya?"

I almost felt my heart melt at his question, and my hand went to pat his head. "Sure you could, Tommy! Everyone could be a hero if they tried." JP rolled his eyes again and shrugged his broad shoulders. I huffed at him and glared. "Well, if you're so great, what do you think about it, you twit?"

JP grinned at the chance to speak and looked down at Tommy, who's head was tilted curiously at the older boy. "Kid, take it from me! This hero stuff, it's way overrated, and I should know!" Tommy's shoulders drooped as JP went on, and I fought the urge to push the large male into the dirt. "It's entirely too much work, it's dangerous, not to mention annoying! And there's always some sap going," he pitched his voice high and clasped his hands by his face dramatically, "'Save me, save me!"

I wondered if I'd see blood dripping from my clenched fists if I glanced down. JP made it sound like being someone's hero was the worst possible thing. And how the hell would he know? He's probably never lifted a finger to help someone else unless there was something in it for him! I must have had a death-like look in my eye, because JP gulped loudly and quickly placed himself out of my reach. Tommy scuffed his shoe into the ground sadly and sighed, "I guess..."

JP smiled down at him again and took his wrist, tugging him towards the town. "Atta boy! Now what do you say we get out of this dump?" When I didn't follow, he glanced nervously over his shoulder and asked, "You comin', Alex? Or are you going to run back to Takuya and tattle on us?"

The words stung, as they were meant to, and I hissed between my teeth, "If you're calling me a coward, you should look in a mirror!" I stalked toward them and stopped on Tommy's other side, glaring at JP. "Only a scaredy-cat would run away from something like exploring a whole new world. Do you have any sense of adventure, JP? Or was it drowned in melted butter and too smothered in chocolate to be of any use?" He jerked back like I'd smacked him and scowled at me. "I'm coming, but only until _you_ find a way out of here. You'll only get yourself or one of us killed if you stay."

We exchanged heated looks before starting forward, with Tommy in between us. I was almost certain that I'd try to hurt JP if we didn't have a barricade between us. The three of us walked in a tensed silence until we spotted one of the creatures who'd greeted us when we arrived on the Trailmon. JP, ignoring my presence, spoke to Tommy in a lowered boy. "Yo Tommy, check this little guy out." He raised his voice to address the digimon. "Hey, egg-shaped dude with ears! What's shakin'?"

I stood away from the two other humans and took in our surroundings. We'd passed these buildings just minutes ago, but I didn't recognize any of them. Maybe because we'd been running in a hurry? I'd have to remember it if I wanted to find my way back to Takuya and Zoe. Then again, if they'd noticed that we weren't there, would they try to find us? Takuya wouldn't leave without me, that much I knew for certain. But what about Zoe? She seemed the type to worry about people, even if she didn't know them, but I couldn't be sure. I picked up a nearby rock and made a mark on one of the buildings. It would help me remember where I'd been.

The conversation between JP and the digimon had been in the background the entire time, and I turned to watch them just as the digimon leaped from the building's room and snatched a piece of chocolate from JP's hand. Wow... I'd been exaggerating when I asked if his sense of adventure had been smothered in chocolate. To see that he was carrying around a bar with him made me kind of worry for his health, despite what I'd said. JP held out the rest of the chocolate and said, "Alright, egg-face. Talk to me and you get the whole bar."

The digimon swallowed the piece of chocolate and made a face of appreciation. He eyed the bar in JP's hand before apparently deciding to help us out. "Take Angler the Trailmon at the station. He can take you three back where you came from." I almost corrected him before deciding not to draw more attention than needed to myself. "Now fork it over."

JP placed the bar of chocolate on the ground with a wide smile on his face. "Thanks a bunch, bud!" He and Tommy set off running towards the station. I followed at a walk, waving to the digimon over my shoulder and sending back a soft smile.

I walked slow enough to not catch up to the other two, but fast enough that I was able to keep them in sight. After my argument with JP, I didn't want to be anywhere near him. My eyes kept wandering around, looking for landmarks to remember, and I just happened to look into an alleyway where I met the unexpected gaze of Kouji Minamoto.

He stood there, blinking in surprise. He looked about as shocked at my appearance as I was by his. A quick scan of his appearance didn't tell me much. He wore the same clothes he did at school, the navy blue jacket with the yellow stripes on the sleeves and his yellow shirt and gray pants. His bandanna was still there as well, resting on top of his head. There was a D-Tector in his hand, but the colors wouldn't be seen at the distance. A map hovered over the screen.

A yell from Tommy made me jump. "Come on, Alex! Hurry up!" I took a step toward his voice before glancing back over to Kouji. He was still watching me, now with his eyes narrowed warily. I smiled at him quickly with a short wave before jogging away, towards the train station.

JP and Tommy were already there. JP was attempting to sweet talk the Trailmon, a blue one with one eye and a lantern on top of his head. I could see why this particular Trailmon was named Angler. "Hey there, you sleek mode of transportation you! Feel like taking a ride? To the real world?" He clasped his hands by his face again and winked at Angler in what he probably thought was a fetching manner.

I covered my mouth to stifle my giggles when Tommy copied his pose. "Yeah, please?" That's just beyond wrong. I swear, if JP corrupts Tommy beyond repair, I'm going to... Well, probably laugh again. Gods know that we don't need more than one JP in the world.

Angler seemed to be debating it before closing his eye. "Eeeh... Take a hike."

Tommy whined in sadness before JP rummaged in his pockets and pulled out yet another chocolate bar. "How about a tasty down payment? And two more bars once we get there!"

I stared at JP in shock and amazement and blurted out, "Dude, how many bars are you freaking _hiding_ in there?" He scowled at me in annoyance. "No, seriously, how many? And how did you stuff them all without any of them even _breaking_? Because I swear, if there's a way to actually do that, I want to learn how. I could sneak chocolate into school without being caught _once!_"

He looked like he was about to answer me, but Angler took the chocolate bar out of his hand and chewed a few times. He swallowed and his one eye widened in awe. "Mm, yummy!" JP and Tommy had looks of excitement that turned into coughs when Angler backed up and shot forward. "I'm off!"

The smoke made them late in response and Tommy coughed out, "Wait! You're supposed to-" more coughing before he continued in a subdued voice. "Take us..."

JP continued where Tommy trailed off, groaning in defeat. "With you..." The two of them sulked for a minute. I kind of felt sorry of them. They wanted to go home, and were so sure that they'd found a way to get there. Instead, they were once again stranded.

I was the only one of us who noticed the pile of the same digimon that had told JP to take Angler coming towards us. They had looks on their faces that made a shiver of fright go down my spine, and I tensed while standing in front of the two humans. Why, I'm not sure. I knew I wouldn't be able to defend them as well as I wanted to. I was never a very good fighter, despite what I might say about Takuya.

The digimon in the forefront of the group jumped up and down to get our attention. I recognized it as the same digimon that JP had spoken to. "Hey, chocolate boy! We want more!"

Seeing who they were talking to, I turned to JP and pleaded with my eyes for him to just give up the stupid chocolate. He couldn't be a total idiot, right? Instead, he put his hands protectively over both of his pockets. "No way!" I face-palmed. And I'm pretty sure I face-palmed hard enough to leave a red mark on my forehead. The digimon all huddled together and whispered among themselves. Taking a chance, I spun around and shoved both boys towards relative safety, intent on getting away while they were distracted.

The crowd of small digimon that had been watching JP 'negotiate' hurried away as well, mumbling to themselves in squeaky voice. We were barely a foot from our original spot before the pile of digimon turned around in eerie unison. The three of us froze mid-step, and the digimon on the top of the pile jumped down and yelled out, "BANZAI!"

The other digimon followed his lead and were soon hopping at us. It would have been a funny sight if I wasn't terrified for all of our lives. Soon they were jumping and hopping and leaping all over us, and trying to chomp at us wherever they could reach. I tried to defend Tommy as well as I could, not really caring much for my own safety. He was more important than I was. I punched and kicked at every digimon I could see.

JP broke out first, and Tommy and I followed his lead. We ran, screaming, away from the vicious little beasts. JP jumped down to the tracks and I didn't think before following after him and Tommy. The large boy climbs up the other side and I helped Tommy go up and struggled with lifting myself. JP grabbed my upper arm and pulled me up with no problems. He held on to me with Tommy under his other arm and ran as fast as his burden would let him.

The steel buildings flashed passed all of us. I didn't have time to try and pick out the landmarks, and I was too panicked to even try. JP lead the way into the forest. I had a feeling he wasn't even trying to find where Takuya and Zoe had gotten to. Instead, he threw me and Tommy down a ledge and followed down. He had to bend his knees until he was half of his height to stay hidden, but he did it well enough.

My heart thudded dangerously loud in my chest, and I leaned against the wall before slowly sliding down to land on my butt. If we got out of this alive, I was going to fucking _kill_ JP. All of this is _his_ fault. Tommy and I were perfectly happy with Takuya and Zoe. We were perfectly happy with the idea of exploring the digiworld and finding out what it had to teach us. But no, JP had to be a spineless wimp and drag me and Tommy into his 'get the hell out of here' plan. In a raspy voice, I told JP, "I'm going to _murder_ you if we survive this, JP." He didn't answer.

Tommy pulled his d-tector from his pocket and started to play with it. I was about to reprimand him about this not being the time for games when he whispered harshly, "Please, turn me into a digimon!" He was talking to his d-tector, trying to turn into a digimon like Takuya did. But didn't we need a spirit for that? "Come on, digivolve! Make me digivolve now!"

JP spoke from where he was keeping watch without turning around. "Come on, Tommy, would you keep it down?" For the first time, I agreed with him. This wasn't the time to start talking to a machine that you'd just gotten that day.

Tommy snapped back without turning away from his d-tector, "I am keeping it down! But I want to turn into a digimon like Takuya did, so we can beat them!" I didn't have the heart to tell him it was no use. At least he wasn't paralyzed with fear like I was. I just hoped those stupid things decided to give up the chase and go home.

JP turned away from the ledge to glare at Tommy in worry. "What? That's crazy talk! What do you think a runt like you can do, huh? Besides, digivolving looks kind of painful. You ever think of that?" He went back to looking through the grass.

The younger boy frowned and spoke in a biting tone that didn't fit a child, "I bet digivolving isn't as painful as being eaten alive by those crazy digimon." After rubbing a stinging bite mark on my arm, I was inclined to agree with a nod. "See, Alex agrees with me!" He looked at my arm with a guilty expression. "I'm sorry you got hurt protecting me, Alex. I promise, I'll take better care of myself!"

I gave him a soft smile that probably looked more like a grimace. "Don't worry about it, Tommy. You're the youngest out of all of us. It's our responsibility to take care of you." His expression flickered for a moment, and I put a hand on his arm softly. "And besides, this isn't the worst bite I've ever gotten. When we find Takuya, ask him about the rottweiler we annoyed when we were in fifth grade."

He chuckled weakly before paling considerably, his eyes above my head. He gulped loudly and pointed slowly. JP and I looked up to find us all surrounded by the digimon, who had hungry looks on their faces. I spotted one of them with blood on his teeth, and my bitten arm tingled a little in remembrance. "Oh no... RUN!" I scrambled to my feet and took Tommy's hand before running. JP followed after a moment. He tripped and the ground was suddenly gone from under us.

I screamed and pulled Tommy to me. We fell for a while before landing in something surprisingly soft. One glance said it was straw. Why straw would be at the bottom of a hole is anyone's guess. JP groaned from somewhere to my left got to his feet. "You two okay?" I lifted myself and Tommy up with a grunt and gave an affirmative nod. "Great. Now let's scram before we become someone's lunch."

He took the lead again and I let him. I didn't have the energy to argue with him. Tommy kept his hand in mine, and I let him pull me along while I took a look around. We seemed to be beneath the town. It didn't smell like a sewer area, so where the hell were we? There were buildings around us that looked like they haven't been inhabited for a while. There wasn't any natural light, though some torches lit up automatically as we passed. I wanted to take one with us, in case we needed a weapon for later, but decided against it. Probably a bad idea on my part, but I didn't want to seem afraid in front of Tommy.

JP stopped us to pick up some grass and leaves that probably drifted in with a breeze and let them go. "The wind is blowing in this direction, so if we walk this way we should find a way out." He started to walk again and glanced at me in worry when I hissed and leaned against a wall. "You sure you're okay Alex? You know we can't stay still for too long. Who knows what else is down here?"

I grunted at him and limped up next to him. "I'll live. We'll just need to convince Bokomon to let me bring some medical supplies from this town with us when we leave. I'll need bandages and anti-infection shi- crap." I corrected myself for Tommy's benefit and glanced over to see the child in question examining a wall. "Something wrong hon?"

He looked up at us in worry and said, "There's no chance we're walking in circles, is there?" I gave him a questioning look and he tapped the wall he'd been looking at with a sheepish smile. "I drew a cross here when we started out. I saw you do it when we were above ground, and it seemed like a good idea." The reality of his revelation crashed down on all three of us as the same time. "Great, that means we're lost." Tommy groaned out. "We'll be stuck down here for days."

JP kicked at the ground and grunted, "That's if we're lucky. It could be months!" Tommy started to cry again. I sunk down to the ground against a building and looked blankly at him. I knew I'd feel guilty about it later, but I just didn't feel like trying to calm him down. JP looked at me like he was waiting for me to jump up and rush to Tommy's side. He sighed when he saw I wasn't going to do anything and pulled out, not one, not two, but _three_ chocolate bars from his pocket.

He handed one to me and Tommy each. I took my time unwrapping it. "Thank you, JP..." I muttered, breaking off the first square and eating it.

Tommy quieted down after he received his bar and JP sighed. "Well, look on the bright side. At least we won't starve." They were about to take a bite of their chocolate before a sound, a bunch of sounds actually, drew our attention upwards. I was almost too afraid to look up, but I did anyways. Too many pairs of eyes to count stared down at us, and I leaped to me feet just as the feral digimon fell down on top of all of us. We ran, throwing our chocolate bars behind us as we went. "Here, just take them!"

At first, I thought we were safe. We gave them all of the chocolate we had, they wouldn't _still _chase after us, would they? I started to slow down with my thought process, but they still came after us. The entire group of them were chanting, "EAT THE HUMANS! EAT THE HUMANS!" Let me tell you, there is nothing more terrifying than hearing that when you're already bleeding.

I already felt myself slowing down when they set on us. One went straight for Tommy, but I grabbed it by the ears and flung it as far as I could. My instincts were still telling me to protect him, and protect him I will. JP and Tommy were shouting out for help while I fought. One of them latched onto my shoulder and I felt it's teeth sink into my skin. I screamed out in pain and fell to my knees. They started to attack me more and more, probably being drawn to my blood. JP and Tommy yelled out for me.

And suddenly, they were all still. I stood up shakily and watched in shock as, for the second time that day, Kouji Minamoto met my eyes. Everyone else was staring at him too. Kouji smirked at the digimon tauntingly. They took the bait and launched themselves at him. JP let me lean on his arm as we watched Kouji kick and break a pipe.

It was like watching a dance, though Kouji would probably hit me if I told him that. The way he swung and spun and moved... I knew that I'd never be able to mimic it, even if I tried. JP and Tommy both stood at my sides and watched in amazement as Kouji practically bowled all of these blood-sucking bastards over. "Woah... Who's that?" Tommy asked.

JP had no real answer, only saying, "That guy is serious!" I had a moment of deja vu while this was going on. People in trouble, dude coming to the rescue, people who were in trouble oohing and aahing over how epic he was... Didn't this happen _just this morning_ with Takuya?

Kouji grunted with each swing of his weapon and yelled out before every attack. As I watched with JP and Tommy, I muttered under my breath, "Yeesh, this guy sounds like a fucking power ranger..." JP snorted loudly and had to cover his mouth to stop from laughing. He'd obviously heard me and gave a small thumbs up that neither Tommy nor Kouji saw. The pipe, somehow, made it's way to over Kouji's shoulders and the digimon all piled on top of him. I worried for a moment and ran forward, then had to duck and cover my head when he spun around. The digimon flew all over the place and hit the walls with painful thuds. "Fucking hell, Minamoto, watch where you're throwing those things, would ya?" I yelled with a playful smile.

He returned it with a roll of his eyes and a smirk and placed the end of the pipe on the ground just as the last digimon hit the ground. The digimon saw the smirk and yelled, "Oh yeah, human? Don't smile yet!" It was surrounded by data and Kouji picked up his weapon again as the cocoon faded and a new digimon, WAY larger than the previous one, appeared. It was made from slime. I don't mean it was covered in slime, it was literally _made _from slime. There were pipes all over it and metal guards covering both of it's red eyes.

From someone's d-tector (I'm assuming, since it was the same voice as all the other times it's freaking talked), I heard, "Raremon: a sewer digimon. If the smell of its rotting flesh doesn't knock you out, its Acid Sludge attack will!" Really, mystical d-tector voice lady? Is this _really _the time to be making bad jokes about its smell, however true it may be?

We had to run from it's Acid Sludge attack. I wasn't as fast as I'd like to have been, considering my injuries from earlier. Tommy tripped and, before I could get to him, Kouji scooped him up in his arms and dodged. I got to Kouji's side to check on Tommy, but Kouji grabbed my wrist and pulled me with him, dodging another Acid Sludge. With each Acid Sludge, more and more holes appeared in the ground. I was scared, I feel no shame in admitting it.

Kouji dragged me along as he went, dodging and running as best he could. I heard a familiar girly voice saying, "Ew, it smells!"

A snarl made it's way into my voice before I could stop it. "Nice of you to join the party! Did you bring the decorations?" Kouji gave me a quick look of curiosity before he had to run again. Raremon advanced on us and Kouji pulled myself and Tommy backwards, glaring with venom in his eyes. "Dammit, Takuya, hurry the hell up and spirit evolve!" I yelled at him, backing up until the edge of my foot hit the biggest hole.

Takuya replied almost immediately. "I'm working on..." A panicked glance over gave me the image of Takuya once again being covered in the data. The data disappeared with a single shout of Agunimon. Agunimon leaped the entire distance between him and Raremon and tackled the enemy into the wall, making him send multiple Acid Sludge bombs everywhere. Light streamed through the holes in the ceiling and walls. Agunimon leaped back and knocked aside a splash of green coming right towards us. Agunimon turned back and said, "Now's your chance. Run!" Then, once again, he was covered in light and just regular Takuya stood there.

I stared at him in shock and he stared right back. "... We're fucked, aren't we?" I said blankly while Kouji stood. I hadn't felt him fall next to me, but it makes sense since I'd been stopped by the hole. Tommy still held on to his side, though. Takuya gave a sheepish and slightly crazed smile. "If we get out of this..." I growled, narrowing my eyes.

Takuya waved his hand impatiently. "Yeah, yeah, you'll paint your bedroom walls with my blood." ... That totally wasn't what I was going to say, but I'll remember it for future threats. Thanks a bunch, Taki!

Raremon stood up from where he'd been knocked over and said, "Still here! ACID SLUDGE!" He sent the attack straight towards us. For a giant stinky ball of slime with metal covering it's eyes, it has surprisingly good accuracy and _this is not the time to admire your soon-to-be-killer's aim, Alex!_

Takuya turned and pushed Tommy out the way, yelling, "Watch out!" In the process of pushing Tommy out of the way he nudged Kouji. In process of Kouji being nudged, he'd fallen into the hole. I tried to grab onto his hand to help, but I used the arm that was attached to the bad shoulder that was bitten earlier. I cried out in pain and shock as I was dragged into the hole behind him. "ALEX!"

Kouji and I continued to fall. I refused to let go of his hand, though. It was more of an instinctive thing than actual conscious thought, but since he didn't let go either, he was probably doing the same thing. We were both yelling, and I cried out, "_Now_ can I freak out about us falling to our deaths?" I asked sarcastically, reminding us both of our fall in the elevator.

He glared at me before we were both distracted by a light at the bottom. A figurine materialized in the light, and I took a moment to study it. It looked like a man's torso on a platform. Silver armor covered most of it, and the arms met together in fists. "What's going on here?" Kouji asked. More to himself than me, but it was asked out loud all of the same. I looked at him to see his eyes becoming dazed for a moment, then he stuck out his d-tector in his free hand. "SPIRIT!"

I was forced to let go of his hand as he was covered in data, but we both miraculously stopped falling. I covered my face with both of my arms to shield my eyes from the light and, soon enough, it faded. Before I could put my arms down, I felt arms go behind my back and under my legs to hold me bridal style. My eyes popped open, and I was met with the red eyes of a new person.

I was struck dumb by what I saw. Blond hair that looked like straw came from under a wolf-shaped helmet. His skin, what little of it I could see, matched Kouji's in a pale shade. Most of him, including the arms that held me up, had purple and silver armor. A blue-and-purple striped scarf waved in the breeze. Pain pulsed suddenly in my shoulder, and I covered it with a grimace that I knew he saw.

I heard Takuya's voice from below, and looked down to see all of my friends. Takuya and Tommy were where we'd left them, crouched on the ground. "Wow, did I look that cool?" Takuya asked in excitement.

My body didn't connect to my brain before I twisted in Kouji's arms- or whoever this new person was, I didn't know his name yet- and I yelled down, "YOU HAVEN'T LOOKED COOL A SINGLE DAY OF YOUR LIFE, KANBARA!" He looked too relieved at seeing me to really mind the insult. I didn't know why until I remembered that he'd seen me fall down the hole. The only reason I knew that Kouji had laughed was because I was pressed against his chest and felt it vibrate with a silent chuckle. There was no change in his facial expression when I looked and no sound to suggest his amusement.

This new warrior drifted towards the ground and landed softly before gently putting me on the ground. "Go." he growled. He was glaring at Raremon with such intensity that I didn't answer before turning and running towards Takuya. It was an awkward run, since I still had my shoulder covered, but I got to him all the same. He glared at my shoulder like it was it's fault it was injured. If that made any sense, I didn't really pay attention to it.

Bokomon stood near a large entrance into the cavern that we were in and had his book open. "That's the legendary warrior of light, Lobomon!" ... Legendary warrior of light? _Kouji_? Oh lovely, now I need to mock him about it. He won't appreciate it, but it needs to be done all the same.

Raremon sent out another Acid Sludge attack. Lobomon pulled something from his belt and called out, "Lobo Kendo!" A beam of light shot out from what I now understood to be the hilt. I gotta tell ya, I had a hell of a time not making a Star Wars reference. Takuya glared at me from the side of his eye like he was expecting me too, but I didn't say anything.

Lobomon ran forward, straight towards the Acid Sludge bombs, and knocked them aside with his beam sword. With a tremendous leap, he landed on Raremon's head. I was fully prepared to see steam rise from his boots from the corroding effects of Raremon's skin, but the only thing to happen was Lobomon sticking his sword into Raremon's head. Raremon gave a yell of pain and rage, with fountains of purple... stuff sprouting from his head. Lobomon leaped down as Raremon's fractal code showed. He pulled Kouji's d-tector from his belt and yelled, "Alright, you talking trash heap! Prepare to be recycled!" As he scanned the fractal code, he yelled out, "FRACTAL CODE, DIGITIZE!"

The stream of date went into Kouji's d-tector. The silhouette of Raremon transformed into that of a pearly egg and went off into the distance while Lobomon fell to the grown. He was covered in data, and I wasn't surprised this time when Kouji appeared in Lobomon's place. He was panting heavily, just like Takuya had been when he first spirit evolved. Takuya watched him for a moment before running for him. I knew this wouldn't end well, so I went after him and Tommy. "Hey, you alright? Let me help you up." Takuya said.

I was the only one who didn't flinch when Kouji glared and growled out, "Don't touch me. I don't need your help! Or anyone else's!" I knew he was glaring at me when he said it, but I merely watched him worriedly. He was never a nice person, even for the very few years I'd known him, but that never stopped me from caring about his well-being before. He stood up shakily before speaking again. "But I guess I should thank you for saving me. And I always repay my debts."

Takuya narrowed his eyes. With a bite to his tone that even I usually never heard, he said, "I didn't do it so you'd owe me, you know."

Kouji turned to face the three of us and said, "I don't know if the girl has told you this, but my name is Kouji Minamoto. And you are?" Takuya looked at me accusingly, like I should have told him Kouji's name before, but it didn't matter anymore. "So are you going to tell me? I can't repay you if I don't know your name."

My best friend answered with the same bite as before. "Takuya Kanbara. And _the girl's_ name is-"

He was cut off by Kouji's roll of his eyes. "Alexandra Cardon. Prefers Alex and has been known in multiple classes to raise hell if any teachers call her Alexandra." My face heated up before I looked away from all three of them, pouting. I knew Kouji was smirking without even looking at him. "See ya."

He started to walk away, but I suddenly realized something. I waited until he was half-way towards the opening before yelling, "Kouji, wait!" I ran a few steps forward until he stopped. He didn't turn to face me, but I didn't care all that much. His reaction wasn't what I was looking for. "Despite how it turned out..." I waited until he looked over his shoulder with an annoyed expression before grinning wickedly and bowing slightly. "I'm sorry Takuya pushed you down the hole."

I saw the amusement in his eyes before he could turn away from me, and Takuya cried out behind me, "I did NOT push him down the hole!"

Kouji started to walk away again, and I turned my back on him to glare at Takuya with my hands on my hips. "Oh, don't give me that, Kanbara! You _totally_ pushed him down the hole!"

Our argument continued much in that fashion before Zoe pulled him away by the back of his shirt. "Come on, you guys, let's get out of here. This place smells like dead fish!" We all followed, Takuya protesting at Zoe man-handling him and me laughing all the while.


	3. Kumamon, Baby Light My Fire!

Me: I'm sorry this one took so long. I try to make a habit of writing them down before I type them, but most of the scenes I already know are going to happen have Kouji in them. Curse you, fangirlism! If you've read my Love (Or Hate) At First Sight story, part of this chapter will be familiar. Thanks to **Kimiko Heroux**, **SoulNinjas**, **Toshiku Yumari**, **Nix**,** EclipseWiccan29 **, **solaheartnet**, and **Crystal-Wolf-Guardian-967** for reviewing! And your welcome for the super extra long chapter. Over 16000 words, you guys!

Disclaimer: Shiningheart doesn't own Digimon. If any other fandoms are mentioned, then she doesn't own them either.

_"Alex singing"_

**"Takuya singing"**

_**"Both singing"**_

_**"All singing"**_

Chapter 3: Kumamon, Baby Light My Fire!

I was glad for Zoe's presence on the walk back to town. She distracted Takuya from asking awkward questions that I didn't want to answer with petty arguments and insults. Bokomon and Neemon had expressed concern over my shoulder wound and ran off somewhere to get medical supplies for it. I was glad for them too. Hell, I was just glad and happy and grateful for everything. So positive was I that I decided not to make good on my threats to Takuya and JP.

Takuya and Zoe were walking at the head of group, bickering senselessly with each other. Is that how Takuya and I look when we argue? Psh, my comebacks and sarcasm are way better than Zoe's. Still, though, I couldn't get rid of the jealousy in my belly, no matter how hardly I shoved against it. He could have other friends if he wanted. I didn't own him. It's not like he had a sign anywhere on his body that says, "Property of Alexandra Cardon". Though now I want to do it, just to see his reaction. That little voice in the back of my head that told me that's not why I was jealous was effectively shot dead.

JP and Tommy walked on either side of me. The larger boy caught me every time I stumbled because of my leg and the smaller one nudged me forward whenever I slowed. My shoulder burned. I hoped there was Vicodin in the digital world. At the very least, some kind of pain killer. Oh God, what if it was infected? What if the digimon that bit me had poisoned teeth and the reason my shoulder was the only thing fucked up was because it's the only bite that actually drew blood?

Some kind of panic must have shown on my face, because Takuya hesitated to speak when he turned back to look at us. "Um... You okay there, Alex? You look like Ceberumon just came back from the dead and bit you in the ass."

The words came up and out before I could think about what I was saying. "Oh God, zombie cooties. I'd turn into a drooling undead bastard and try to eat your brains. Good thing you don't have much of a brain, eh Taki?" I closed my eyes and tilted my head to the side, a cheeky grin on my face. Gods, I loved messing with my best friend.

He stared blankly at me before heaving a massive sigh and saying plainly, "You know something, Alex? Sometimes, I hate you. I just _really_ hate you." I started to laugh before my shoulder gave a rather vicious pulse, turning my laugh into a gasp. They all stopped walking when I gripped the wound with my opposite hand and bit my lip to stop from screaming. Takuya turned swiftly on his heel and took a step towards me, his eyes overshadowed with worry. "Okay, now I know you're hurt."

I hope he winced when I glared frostily at him. "Well, gee, what was your first clue? The seeping blood, the stumbling, the muffled cries of pain? No, seriously, do tell. I'm just _so fucking curious!_" They were all quiet after my outburst, staring at me in shock and a slight bit of fear. I wonder what I looked like... Blood-soaked shoulder, wild and angry eyes, hair tangles and everywhere... The mental image I gave myself softened the anger, and I sighed. "Sorry, Taki... I'm just looking forward to bandages and ointment, that's all."

We'd somehow gravitated back to the train station, where we'd all first stepped into this world. Thank the Gods, because I'd left my bag here. It was leaning innocently against the wall on the platform from when I dropped it to go down to Takuya after his first spirit evolution. Bokomon and Neemon were standing next to it and had jars and bandages respectively in their arms. I almost cried when I slid down the wall next to them.

Bokomon went to work by pulling my shirt down just enough to expose the bite. He wasn't human, so I wasn't nearly as self-conscious as I would have been otherwise. He started to mop the blood up with a damp rag and shook his head, tsking. "You poor, poor girl. I don't know how you haven't complained even once. Don't you worry one bit, my dear! This cream," he unscrewed one of the jars and a spicy sort of scent drifted up to me, "is both anti-bacterial and a pain-reducer." He dipped a cloth into it and started to dab at the teeth marks. "Give it a few minutes and you won't be able to feel a thing!"

I had no intention of telling him that my entire arm had already gone numb. I don't know what that stuff was, but _I like it_. JP looked kind of mopey, so I stretched out my leg to nudge him lightly in his ankle. "Oi, Skippy! S'up with the 'woe is me' face? You look like someone just ran over your puppy." The thought was sobering, and I said solemnly, "_Did_ someone run over your puppy? Because that happened once to Taki's cat. He wouldn't leave his room for three days, even to play with me." He gave me a weird look for the story and I shrugged at him, not helping him at all.

Either he didn't notice the nickname I gave him or he was beyond caring about my idiocy. He sighed and kicked at the ground with his hands in his pockets, looking like the perfect picture of a sulking child. "I just kind of wish that we'd found a way to get back while all of that was happening, you know? Like, maybe that hole Kouji fell down would lead to our world and all we'd have to do take a leap of faith."

The cream on my shoulder was heating up, making me feel like I was a tiny bit drunk. Not that I've ever been drunk. I don't even like the smell of alcohol. I snickered a little before saying, "With our luck, dude, we'd end up in Wonderland with the Queen of Hearts after our heads. Nah, it's best to just go where the wind takes us and see where our destinies lead." He gave me another weird look. I'm guessing this one was for my choice of words. "What, didn't your cell phone tell you your destiny was calling, like Takuya's did when he first got the message?"

JP's confused look cleared up and he nodded. "Yeah. Some creepy stuff about how I'm meant for greater things than what our world had to offer. I just thought it meant our neighborhood. You know, like the difference between Shibuya and Tokyo. I didn't think it meant an entirely different world, like here!" He sighed heavily again before saying. "I just want to go home..."

Neemon's ears perked up from where he'd been silently watching Bokomon treat me. "Go home? You wanna go home? Well, that's easy!" He turned to the tracks and pointed to where a Trailmon was chillin' an' watchin' us. Good to know that the Digital World has creepers just like our world. "If you really want to go home, all you have to do is hop on here!"

Bokomon tensed up from where he was finishing the bandages on my shoulders. He wasn't happy about the words Neemon had said. I knew his stance from watching my mother in Parent-Teacher conferences. The digi-shit was about to hit the digi-fan. Bokomon stood up slowly and marched swiftly up to his friend- although by this point in time I'm willing to bet it'd be bumped down to companion- and dragged him away by the hem of his pants. "Oh, Neemon! I'd like a word with you, please!"

Only half of my attention followed them. The other half focused itself on JP's expression. And yes, I can totally pay attention to two separate things. I have no idea what Takuya's talking about when he says I have the attention span of a squirrel. JP was blinking in surprised wonder at the trailmon. "Is it really that easy?" he breathed out.

A sinking feeling hit me. He still wanted to leave, even after all that just happened to us? Well, I guess I can understand him a little better now. After all, I was the only one who was bandaged up and bleeding. Which is complete bullshit, you know! Tommy and JP were there too, and yet neither of them seemed even the least bit phased by our ordeal. While I'd never wish harm on anyone, especially those younger than me, they could at least look a little tired! My entire body tingled a little in response to my thoughts. "Don't go!" I blurted out. They all looked at me in shock, and my shoes suddenly became very interesting. Was that a speck of dirt on my laces? What nerve! "I'm sorry for calling you a coward. I want to make it up to you, but I can't if you leave."

None of them spoke, and I gathered up the courage to take a single glance up. JP actually looked to be considering it. I hoped he'd stay. He wasn't such a bad guy beneath all that 'this is too dangerous', 'heroes are for idiots' thing. I mean, it's not like I like-like him or anything. I just thought we could be friends after all. Then his face dropped into an uncaring expression and he shrugged. "Yeah, well, find me in the real world then. As for me, I'm taking that bad boy home!" He turned his back on me- and believe me when I say that that hurt more than I thought it should- and he looked at the others. "Huh, how about it guys?"

The confidence slowly drained from his face when the others kept their silence. Not even Tommy would lift his little face to look him in the eyes. And JP didn't even bother to turn to look for my reaction. My earlier protests must have finally sunken into his head. Incredible, all things considered. I was under the impression that his head was as thick as mine. Then again, no one's head is as thick as my best friend's. Still, it worked to my advantage. I didn't want Takuya to get any ideas about sending me back. He'd claim it was for my own good, since I was already injured. It was only the first day, after all.

JP's face crumbled in distaste, and he spat angrily at the ground. My nose wrinkled in response. Not only was that unhygenic, it was just plain nasty. Seriously, some of these digimon get around by bouncing on their heads! What would happen if one of them bounced directly on his spit? They'd have JP cooties and would have to jump in front of a Trailmon to get rid of them! Then again, them pointy-teethed bastards from earlier got around on their heads... A mental image of the entire lot of them going over the cliff made me smirk. "Fine!" JP said. "You guys enjoy your little digital freak show!" He leaped onto the tracks and started across with his hands in his pockets. "Come on, Tommy, we're out of here!"

Oh... That's right... Tommy wanted to go home too. For some reason, that fact had completely slipped my mind. Well, it was good for him! This place wasn't safe enough for a child of his age to be here. I know that Takuya and Zoe and I were all still technically children, but at least we could somewhat take care of our selves. My shoulder burned a little in response to the thought, like it was mocking me. Zoe looked at Tommy when he didn't move and asked gently, "Well? Aren't you going with him?"

Tommy bit his lip and gave the smallest shake of his head. Even his voice wobbled a little in uncertainly when he spoke. "I've decided... I want to stay here with you."

My head snapped around so quickly that my neck cracked a little. I was momentarily distracted by the current events by the brief pain of it, but then my mind focused back on track. He wanted to stay with us? Why? He was the very first one out of all of us that wanted to go back. That's how Takuya first found the spirit of Agunimon, by chasing after him. I know that Tommy said earlier that he wanted to be like Takuya, but being brave and looking for trouble are two separate things. Did he know the difference between the two?

Takuya either shared my misgiving or had his own, because he quickly got behind the younger boy and placed his hands on his shoulders. "It's too dangerous for you, Tommy! And besides, the third grade is an informative year!" And, completely disregarding Tommy's faint protests, pushed him gently forward. It wasn't hard enough to make him go over the edge and onto the train tracks, but it definitely got the point across. Good thing for Takuya, too. If he'd hurt Tommy, even accidentally, the following consequences would have scarred the child for life. "Go home!"

The look Tommy sent back over his shoulder, one full of betrayal and hurt, made my heart ache. It was a look I was all too familiar with. I'd given it myself way too many times when I was younger and my dad was on a business call. He hadn't been expecting such an abrupt or pushy send-off. To him, it probably seemed like we didn't want him around. I pictured him then, sitting alone and scared on the train slash trailmon that brought us here. The mental image made me scramble up and shout, "Tommy!" He paused just below the ledge where JP was waiting and turned back, hope shining in his eyes. It nearly broke my heart to squash it. "My promise on the trailmon still stands. When we're done with whatever we're doing here, I'll come find you."

Even his hat seemed to droop a little. It was a ridiculous notion, and I knew it was probably just my imagination acting up again, but the idea that even his clothes wanted to stay with us both saddened and amused me a little. Tommy smiled weakly and gave a nod before turning back and attempting to scramble up besides JP, who crouched down to pull him up. "Take care of him, JP!" Takuya called. Then he turned a worried and critical eye on me. I knew instinctively what was coming. "Maybe you should go too Alex... You're already hurt, and I'm not sure how well-"

He cut himself off when he saw my eyebrow raised in disbelief. After being friends for forever, you'd figure he'd know me better than that! The only way I was leaving without him was knocked out and tied up. Takuya shook his head, bearing a look that was half a smile and half a smirk. "Yeah, I figured. It was a stupid question anyway." Well, at least he agrees with me. Then he turned on Zoe and said, in a decidedly much harsher tone of voice, "What about you?"

I blinked in surprise. It wasn't exactly like he was known for being a chivalrous knight atop a noble steed, but he's at least always had some manners... Most of the time, anyway. Did something happen between him and Zoe to cause this strain? It wouldn't surprise me, of course. It does take some getting used to, his optimistic stupidity. Zoe puffed her cheeks out in indignation and said, "I have a name, you know!"

Takuya rolled his eyes and put his fists on his hips, putting his weight on one leg while tapping the floor with his other one. I recognized the stance as the one he uses when he's trying not to be an an ass. It wasn't a very used stance, since he's naturally a nice person. Whatever had gone down between the two, he honestly felt that Zoe was at fault. Whether it's true or not remains to be seen, since he can be kind of biased when he wants to be. "Fine, _Zoe_, are you leaving?"

Her expression changed to one of mischief, and she crossed her arms over her chest while closing her eyes just enough for the pretty green to shine beneath her blonde lashes. "Why, would you miss me?" It was painfully obvious she was trying to flirt. Jealousy bubbled up inside of me, but I'd been expecting it too. It had become something of an unhealthy habit for me to just ignore it until it goes away. That's what I did as I watched them silently.

The jealousy refused by be beaten that easily, though. It morphed itself into possessive rage when Takuya didn't acknowledge the curious glances I was giving the both of them. Either he didn't know I was curious or he was ignoring me. Both weren't exactly welcoming options. On one hand: his concentration was focused on her enough that he was blocking everything else, me included, out. On the other: he was preferring to argue with the blonde than satiate my curiosity. It might sound completely spoiled and selfish of me when I say it, but I don't like it when he put others ahead of me. He was _my _best friend, dammit! No one else was allowed to have his attention when I wanted it!

If there's one thing I know better than any other female, though, it's how thick Takuya was to attempted flirting. It's been both a blessing and a curse in the entire course of our friendshp, though at the moment it was more of the latter than it was of the former. Takuya frowned and pointed at her with one hand, "I'm not going to be responsible for your safety, you know!"

Zoe's face dropped when it became apparent he wasn't getting the hint. Guilt swam right along with the vindictive pleasure I got when she scowled and looked away with her arms crossed over her chest. "Good one, Romeo! I'll be fine!" I think I was the only one to see the genuine disappointment in her eyes. It's not like Takuya had meant to turn her down! Really, he's just a little... dense, shall we say, when it came to romance. You could have a bright, flashing neon sign that played music when you push a button and he still wouldn't know what's going on. Either that or think you're on crack...

Takuya scoffed and turned away from the both of us, grumbling and stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jeans. "This oughtta be fun..." I winced a little in sympathy for the other girl. No need to be mean, Takuya! Seriously, what the hell happened between them to make him so... Kouji-like to her? And that's really the best analogy I can come up with to describe Takuya's behavior. All harsh and sarcastic and blunt and what-not...

Tension rose quickly between the three of us. I've never much liked tension. It's part of the reason I don't watch movies with anyone other than Takuya. It could just be anxiety-inducing music and I'd still yelp loudly when something happens, even if it's not all freak-tastic. If things continued this way, it would not end well for any of us. So, as casually as I could, I leaned against the wall and said, "I'll say, Taki. Just imagine it: a single man, traveling alone with two girls and two digimon, with no real male company to horse around with... Every day, your testosterone level will drop bit by bit by bit. By the time we get home, you'll be PMS-ing like a bitch!"

The atmosphere quickly lightened when Zoe started to crack up. Takuya whirled around to face me, his face lit up like a red-tinted lightbulb. "I swear to God, Alex, one more crack-" For the second time in the past ten minutes, he cut himself off. His tanned face went slack in surprise, even as his eyes widened. "What are you doing here?" he blurted out.

I couldn't see in the direction he was looking from the way I'd positioned myself. I followed his eyes and peeked around the side of the wall, and my jaw dropped when I spotted JP and Tommy walking towards us, both looking sheepish. Well, there goes my 'like a bitch' comment. But why the hell... No, here's a better question: HOW the hell? With narrowed eyes, I growled out flatly, "JP, please tell me you didn't let Tommy jump out of a _moving train_..."

He froze mid-step and seemed to regret not taking the chance on returning to someplace far, far away from my maternal wrath. "Um... Uh..." he stammered nervously and scratched the side of his face. I've never much understood the gesture. Was it just, like, a nervous gesture or something? Like Takuya's 'I'm going to kick the ground so I don't kick you' stance? "Well... At least it wasn't a _speeding_ train..." I didn't respond, only narrowing my eyes into furious slits. Something in my aura must have turned murderous, because he quickly hurried to get the attention away from himself. "And to be perfectly honestly, Takuya, I have no idea!"

Zoe stopped laughing long enough to flash a look at me before pretty much copying Taki's stance from earlier, putting her hands on her hips and forcing her face into a frown. I could tell it was forced too, because her cheeks would occasionally twitch as well. "Well, I'm not going to be responsible for your safety! You're on your own!"

It was my turn to start laughing. Who knew she had it in her? Whatever Takuya had been planning on telling me was quickly forgotten. He whipped around to face her and scowled when he spotted her stance. "Are you making fun of me? You are, aren't you?" The usual warmth in his brown eyes had disappeared to be replaced with irritated annoyance. He ignored the soft laughter of everyone else who was watching. I was still howling. "Man, you try to be nice to a girl..." He trailed off in mumbles and grumbles.

I stepped up next to Zoe and placed my fists importantly on my waist. In order for this next part to work the way I wanted it to, Takuya had to think I was serious. "Takuya." I said gravely. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at me curiously. I wanted to glance around to take in their expressions, but I kept my gaze locked on Takuya's. He looked torn between curiosity and apprehension. I was rarely ever this serious, and he wasn't sure how to take it. "You are officially being replaced as my best friend." He jerked back like I'd slapped him and gaped like I'd just broken off our engagement. He'll learn soon enough that I'm kidding. After all, the longest we've ever been mad at each other was an hour. I turned away from him and stuck out my elbow to Zoe, beaming at her. "Come, Zoe dear! I believe I owe you a few stories!"

The look of surprise that had appeared on her face quickly changed into an impish one. She followed my lead in ignoring the gaping faces of everyone around us and hooked her left arm under my right so that we were locked at the elbows. "That you do! Now, what's this I hear about Takuya screaming when a merry-go-round goes too fast?"

I burst out laughing at the reminder. After all that had happened, I'd honestly forgotten the promise I'd made to tell it to her. I stooped down to pick up my bag- grinning when I realized that Bokomon had put the leftover supplies into it- before we sacheyed away with our hips rocking in sync. The boys and digimon followed us at a distance. Takuya was sulking and pouting at the very back of the group. I knew because I kept looking back at him and smiling.

By the time we reached the edge of the town, a significant amount of space had built up between the males and us females. I deemed that we were far enough away that none of them could hear us. Still, though, I wanted to be careful. The following conversation shouldn't be overheard by any of them, Tommy because he was too young and JP and Taki because... well, it's girl talk. And if Neemon overheard, he'd probably blurt it out to the entire world with that stupid look on his face.

I leaned in close to Zoe, and dropped my voice to a whisper. Zoe copied me with a curious look on her face. "I'm sorry about what happened with Takuya earler. He's not exactly the brightest crayon in the box, if you know what I mean."

Her face immediately soured at the reminder. She scowled at me for bringing it up before abruptly turning her head away and sighing. "I don't really blame him for not being interested. I haven't exactly been the nicest to him over these past few hours." Her eyes went misty with rememberance and I had to press my nails into my arm to keep from asking what happened. The way she spoke, and the way they reacted to each other, something bad must have gone on. After all, we'd only been seperated for thirty minutes, fourty tops. What could have possibly happened between the time JP dragged Tommy and me away and when we met up again underground?

But, alas, this was neither the time nor the place for recalling tales of annoyance and irritation. I do, however, fully intend to drag it out of one of them later on. I collect whatever blackmail material I can whenever I can. I nudged her side when my elbow constantly until she glared back at me. "Don't worry about it, Z. It's not that Takuya's not interested, he just didn't know you were flirting. He is, after all, a boy. You know how dense they are when it comes to romance." Her lips quirked momentarily at the insult. "Just be yourself and he'll come naturally to you. And if not, then I intend to give him a forceful shove in your direction!"

I gave her a wink of reassurance. And I really was hoping my interferance was unnecessary. I wouldn't force him to go out with her if he wasn't attracted to her, but I'd try my damndest to make sure she at least perked his interest. And if that didn't work, then I could always just shove poisoned chocolate down his throat and cackle evilly while he's flailing in agony and frothing at the mouth. Zoe gave me a slightly scared look, and I suddenly realized I was grinning widely and rubbing my hands together like a mad scientist. I could have sworn she was inching away slowly, too. She dipped her head slightly to me in gratitude. "Thanks, Alex. I hope something good comes from this trip."

I patted her arm lightly and said, "Think nothing of it, Zoe. After all, what else are best friends for other than embarrassment and utter humiliation?" She giggled at me, and I gave her a side-glance with a smile. "Speaking of, would you mind helping me a little with that?" She tilted her head to the side and nodded slowly for me to go on. "I need you to gasp loud enough to get Takuya's attention and then, once you have it, yell back to him, _'You set yourself on fire?!'_"

Zoe blinked at me before slowing us down so that they were all in hearing range before doing as I asked. She stopped suddenly and openly gaped at me, even throwing in an astounded, "You're shitting me! He so did not!"

Ah, this girl is good. That lets Takuya know we are indeed talking about him while arousing all of their curiosities. I wouldn't have thought to catch all of their attention. Twin evil bitch powers, activate! I stopped as well and nodded gravely at her, adding my own, "I shit you not, my friend. I was there, and I speak the truth."

She turned on her heel and placed her hands on her hips, smiling wide enough that I swear her teeth sparkled in the setting sun. "Takuya, you set yourself on fire?!"

New car: $5,000. New house: $10,000. Takuya's face once he processed what she was yelling: absolutely priceless. His mouth gaped wide, his eyes bugged out, and everything from his neck up flamed such a shade of red that I worried his lonely brain cell wouldn't get enough air. He stomped the last few feet to us, steam almost coming from his ears. "Dammit Alex, what the hell are you telling her?" he snapped at me. Tommy and JP shook in the background with poorly concealed laughter.

I smirked at Takuya in the usual Alex-fashion: _'Just give up, Taki. You cannot defeat me.'_ And yes, I do indeed have a smirk that's designated for Takuya only. "Oh, nothing much. Just that incident in third grade. You know, when you sat on the stove top in Home Ec?" To this day, three years later, I shall never let it go. It's one of my favorite memories of him, and that's saying something! He'd been flirting with this pretty blonde girl and not paying attention to his surroundings. He hopped up on the stove, right on the bright red burner. Barely a minute later, his ass was on fire. Let it never be said he couldn't scream like a girl when the situation calls for it.

He was obviously remembering it too, because the coloring turned into an even deeper red. The scowl grew bigger too, stretching across his tanned face until he looked more comical than intimidating. He got into the same pose as when he was fighting with Zoe earlier, and that more than anything told me just how angry he really was. Takuya tilted his head up defiantly and said fiercely, "You know, Alex, I have just as much dirt on you as you do on me." My eyebrow raised in a challenge, and I made the 'bring it on' motion with one hand. "Rottweiler in fourth grade ring a bell?"

Ah, good ol' Chumly. Not exactly my brightest of moments. A neighbor of mine had to leave on a business trip for the weekend, leaving behind his growling, snarling, territorial rottweiler. Like the fool I was, I'd offered to care for him while said neighbor was gone. For an entire day and night, that stupid dog had me hiding up in a tree like, and pardon the pun, a scaredy-cat. Needless to say, I haven't been near that mutt since then.

Takuya looked triumphant, like he'd won the battle in the on-going war. If he thought I was giving up that easy, it's time for a wake up call. My eyes narrowed at him and I copied his stance while shooting back, "Merry-go-round two summers ago." It was a kiddy-park merry-go-round, the kind you had to push yourself. We'd tied Cookie, my saint bernard back home, to one of the bars and a bone to the one in front of him. He'd run in circles so fast that everything started to blur into one single motion. I had the time of my life; Takuya'd brought the entire park running with his scream. And now that I think about it, I'm noticing a theme with his past humilations.

He bristled a little before snapping, "Food fight, third grade." White tank top, spaghetti for lunch, and an entire cheerleading squad with a vendetta against me. Enough said.

I gave a smile of victory and leaned toward him, saying very deliberately, "Kevin. Fucking. Johnson." Last year, Takuya had his tonsils taken out. And his nurse, his _male_ nurse, looked like a chick from behind. Takuya's meds made him beyond loopy, and he'd slapped Mr. Johnson on the ass just as I'd gone in. It's my ace in the hole for every single shit-fest we get into. Takuya gave a pretty good impression of a fish before turning away and pouting. "That's right, bitch, I fucking _win._" That's when I remembered Tommy, and I gave the staring child a hard look. "And Tommy, you are never to repeat anything I say. Like, ever. If you do, I'm washing your mouth out with soap."

Tommy saluted childish with such a huge smile that I had a flash-back to a younger Takuya with that very same expression. "Sir, yes, sir!" Then he falted slightly at my raised eyebrows, making Zoe giggle loudly to herself. "I mean, uh, m'am yes m'am!"

Zoe covered her mouth with her hand to stifle her laughter. I lowered his hat over his eyes and drew a whine from him. He fixed the damned puff-ball with a pout. You know, he really is an adorable kid. It makes me want to cuddle him until he's blue in the face. Since I couldn't do that, I merely pulled him close and ruffled his hair affectionately. "Tommy, I am officially adopting you as my baby brother. You're just too damn cute for me not to!"

He blinked in surprise before grinning, slowly at first, until it grew into a blazing smile. He laughed before shaking Zoe by his arm. Why, I'm not sure; she'd already been paying attention. Caught in the moment, perhaps. "Zoe, Zoe! Didja hear that, huh, didja? Alex is gonna be my big sister!" He turned his wide eyes on me excitedly while I withheld the urge to correct his grammer. "I've always wanted a sister! But all I've got is a meanie older brother."

I let him babble on about his life back home while my mind turned to my own family. They'd probably notice my absence but not think much of it. It wouldn't be the first time I'd spent the night at Takuya's house without telling them. Cecil would bitch that I'm allowed to stay at my male friend's house while she couldn't. But there's a difference between her staying with her male friends and me staying at mine. I wouldn't try to seduce Takuya. After the first few days, though, they'd all worry. Two days would be when Mama gets nervous. Three days for Daddy to be worried. Cecil, though we have our differences, would take four days to be scared for me. They'd run around looking for me, probably along with Takuya's family. Maybe they'd meet up with the families of our new friends and they'd all deduce that we disappeared at the same time. I hoped none of them worried too much.

My thoughts were brought back down to Earth (or whatever you wanna call the dirt of the Digital World) when Bokomon scurried up next to Takuya. "I hope you plan on helping us, Mister Takuya." Taki gave the digimon an uninterested look. He was trying to get over the loss of our argument by pretending that he didn't really care. I know he did. He just didn't want anyone else knowing. "You carry with you the spirit of Agunimon, one of the ten legendary warriors. You can defeat the digimon turned evil by Cherubimon." Takuya raised an eyebrow at him and Bokomon started doing this strange little dance that made me snicker. Dance, little man-radish thing, dance! "Only you have the power to save us! You must restore the parts of the Digital World that have been destroyed!"

Takuya snorted in disinterest and said blankly, "I think you need to calm down buddy." Ah, silly, silly Takuya. You never want to say that to any scholarly type. They'll be on your ass about you not taking things seriously enough... Or maybe that's just my experiences with my school's resident 'bad boy'...

Bokomon continued his funky dance while snapping, "My name is Bokomon and I'm not your buddy! I don't think you understand the severity of the situation here!" The majority of us gave him annoyed looks for both his tone and volume, and he immediately backtracked. "Sorry, I didn't mean to yell. But we need the data from that fractal code! It's the only way to rebuild the digital world!" He got onto his knees and pleaded with Takuya, his eyes watering and a quiver entering his voice. He didn't need to go so far to convince Taki. The bloody fool has a hero complex. Stupid Gryffindor type peoples... When he saw Takuya still not answering, he turned to his companion for back-up. "Neemon! Don't just stand there like a cheap TV antenna, I need your help! Say something!"

I snickered when I saw the blank look on the yellow bunny's face (oh wait, it always looks blank) before he said, "Some...thing." He had to pause in between the syllables, like he wasn't entirely sure what he wanted to say. I burst out laughing and almost fell, having to lean on my knees heavily to keep from collapsing. It sounded like an answer I would give, though I doubt Neemon did it to be a smart-ass.

Bokomon's eye twitch and he grunted out a yell before shouting, "Are you really that dense or do you just do that to annoy me?" It's Neemon. The question kind of answers itself, don't you think? Bokomon snapped Neemon's waist line tightly enough to make him yelp.

Loud static cut my laughter off, and I jumped away from the entire group when they all pulled out their d-tectors. I scurried over to Takuya's side to glance at his screen, and saw the same symbol as before. It was different from the one he wore when Agunimon, though. Then the same female voice that got us into this mess said, "Attention: go to the forest terminal immediately!" If I wasn't wary of whoever was speaking, I'd have wondered about the urgency in her voice. Whatever was waiting in the forest terminal must be really important for her.

Takuya shook his head lightly, like he was disspelling some kind of trance, and asked the fuzzy screen, "What's a... forest terminal?" He hesitated saying it like he wasn't sure if he was speaking it right. Unless we'd all heard wrong, she wanted us to head through unknown terrain and face unpresidented perils to do... what? Bring her a grilled cheese sandwich? I hope not, because JP would probably eat it before we go there. Hell, I'd eat it before he even got the chance!

The other three repeated Takuya's question in perfect sync. I wonder how they did that? It wasn't the first time something like that happened. Maybe their d-tectors have some kind of mindmeld app., and the reason I wasn't included was because I didn't have my own d-tector? I hid my pout with practiced ease, not wanting them to think I was feeling left out. I was, but they didn't need to know that. I held my hand up in the air and bounced, like how Hermione Granger does in the books. It almost made me hurl just to mock it. "Ooh ooh, I know!" They all looked at me curiously, and Takuya pointed at me to make me speak. I held both of my hands out in front of me on either side. "It's a terminal...," I placed my hands together with a clap, "...in a forest!"

None of them looked very impressed with me, but I caught the beginnings of a smirk on the edge of Takuya's expression. He was either laughing at me or just thought it was amusing. Either way, I brought my bestest best friend enjoyment. I can die happy now! Instead of acknowledging my stupidity, he brought his d-tector to his face and asked the symbol directly, "How am I supposed to find it?" The symbol fizzed out into static and Takuya started pushing his buttons in irritation. "Hey, come on! Answer me!"

I swiped it from his hands before he could break it and swatted him lightly on the head with my other hand. "Don't break it, you twit! Remember how you shattered your game boy because you pressed the buttons too hard? We had to save up our money in secret and buy you a new one so your parents wouldn't know! I don't think whoever brought us here is as accomodating as Nintendo." He looked sheepish and held his gloved hand out for it. I gave it back with a smile. At least he's realized that I was joking about replacing him as my best friend.

Bokomon whipped out his book and I am proud to say that I didn't drop to the floor in bewildered agony. Takuya sent me a smirk that I refused to acknowledge, because I knew he was thinking the exact same thing as me. "The forest terminal is a station located deep within the realm of the forest kingdom." So, in a round-about-way, I was right! It _is_ a terminal in a forest! I stuck my tongue out at Takuya with a smile that he returned with an exaggerated eye roll. Bokomon looked up from his book and raised an eyebrow at us. Takuya and I exchanged a look and grinned at the tiny digimon, blinking innocently. Bokomon rolled his eyes and said, "We just follow the tracks and they'll take us right to it!"

Neemon asked a question that hadn't occured to me, and I knew I'd have to ram my head into a solid surface as punishment for being more ignorant than the rabbit digimon. "How far do we have to follow them?" If I was anyone else, the squeakiness of his voice would have made me carve out my ear drums. But I'm not that kind of person; self-mutilation isn't my thing.

Bokomon looked through his book and mumbled to himself before apparently finding his answer. "Well, let's see... It says... It says..." Annoyance lit his features as he stared incredulously at the page he'd landed on. "All the way!" Again with the simultanious expressions. All of them sighed in irritation and shook their heads.

Takuya turned away from them and looked out into the distance to where the train tracks lead. Perhaps he was imagining the journey to come? I hope not. The way I see it, it's like a visit to the doctor to get a shot: you imagine all these horrible scenarios and dreadful happenings until you're just a bundle of twisted nerves and, when you actually get there, it's not nearly as bad as you made yourself believe. "You're just full of useless information, aren't you?"

Just like my math teacher! Seriously, what the hell do we need to know algebra for anyway? What did those poor polygons ever do to us to make us want to do unmentionable things to them? That triangle didn't need to be cut in half... I moped slightly while the others talked, caught up in my mourning over quadrulaterals and circles and triangles. Movement caught my eye and I looked up again (with no knowledge that I'd looked down in the first place) to see Tommy running ahead of us. "Don't get too far ahead Tommy! Until the rest of us get spirits, Takuya is our only means of protection." I thought about this for a moment before wiping my face blank and saying, "We're all doomed."

And just like that, Taki and I were back to bickering like children. The others watched in mixed amusement and exasperation before JP finally had enough. "Okay, I never thought I'd be the mature one and say this, but seriously, knock it off!" He exclaimed, grabbing the back of Takuya's shirt and trying to pull him away from where he was attempting to get me in a headlock. "Either calm the hell down or I'm separating you two!" We paused in our rough-housing to give him a surprised look, and JP's cheeks flushed slightly. "My auntie used to do that when me and my cousin were wrestling... I figured, it worked for us, so..."

Takuya and I exchanged looks again before untangling ourselves and standing straight. "Eh, he was gonna win anyway." I said with a shrug and a playful nudge with my elbow. Takuya nudged me back with a grin. We'd have continued if JP didn't clear his throat meaningfully, and I scurried away from the both of them to walk a little ahead. After that everyone was silent. I did about as well with silence as I did with tension. So I went through the mental playlist of travel songs in my head. These songs have been chosen specifically for Takuya, because I know he's that type of special idiot. I started to walk to the rhythm of the song. Then I started humming it. Takuya, who'd been observing the total blankness of our surroundings, snapped his head around to stare at me. I knew what was coming. He knew what was coming. But did the others? We'll find out...

_"Oo, ee, oo aa aa,_

_ting tang, walla walla bing bang._

_Oo, ee, oo, aa aa,_

_ting tang walla bing bang!"_

And Takuya was immediately at my side with a shit-eating grin. Did I call it or what?

**"Di di dee di di di di!"**

With a smile, we hooked arms and skipped in a circle, all the while still moving forward so as not to lose our pace. The others followed together, Zoe and JP cracking up while Tommy looked confused. He was probably too young to know what the song was. It's really actually a blessing in disguise. By the time we all go back, he'll be cultured in both the arts of music and the arts of stupidity. I'll be so proud of him!

_**"Oo, ee, oo aa aa,**_

_**ting tang walla walla bing bang.**_

_**Oo, ee, oo aa aa,**_

_**ting tang walla walla bing bang!**_

_"I told the witch doctor I was in love with you!_

**(Di di di di)**

_I told the witch doctor I was in love with you!_

**(Di di di di)**

_And then the witch doctor, he told me what to do!_

_He said: "_

We detached our arms to do a twirl in the air. Takuya flailed about to keep his balance while I only nearly fell once. We belted out the next chorus at the top of our lungs and even all of the other joined in. Why, I've no idea. Probably just for shits and giggles. Tommy at least seemed to be catching on, because he was giggling with the rest of us.

_**"OO, EE, OO AA AA!**_

_**TING TANG WALLA WALLA BING BANG!**_

_**OO, EE, OO AA AA!**_

_**TING TANG WALLA WANNA BING BANG!"**_

I gestured for Takuya to take the next verse. He looked slightly surprised. Usually I did the actual singing part while he just did the background. I really didn't have a very good reason for the sudden switch. I just wanted to see how he'd do. He shrugged it off and bowed mockingly before doing the next part.

**"I told the witch doctor you didn't love me true!**

_(Di di di di!)_

**I told the witch doctor you didn't love me nice!**

_(Di di di di!)_

**And then the witch doctor, he gave me some advice!**

**He said:"**

This time it was just Takuya and me, because the others were laughing too hard to get any actual singing done. Zoe and Tommy were both leaning on JP, holding their stomachs. JP's face had gone red, and he was trying to get his breath back. I had to keep myself from laughing at their laughter. At least they weren't trying to pretend they didn't know us, like so many other people I could have named.

_**"Oo, ee, oo aa aa,**_

_**ting tang walla walla bing bang.**_

_**Oo, ee, oo aa aa,**_

_**ting tang walla walla bing bang!**_

_**"Oo, ee, oo aa aa,**_

_**ting tang walla walla bing bang.**_

_**Oo, ee, oo aa aa,**_

_**ting tang walla walla bing bang!"**_

We finished the song with our own laughter. For five minutes straight, all of us laughed and laughed and laughed. I couldn't think of why, because it honestly wasn't all that hilarious. Yes, the song itself is funny, and Takuya and me dancing while singing probably added to it, but it didn't call for five minutes worth of humor. The best I could come up with was because we just needed to laugh. JP finished first and panted before rasping, "That... was the most random thing... I've ever seen..." Ah, that might be a better reason than mine.

I smirked at him and tapped my temple a few times. "I've got an entire playlist in my head of the most random songs ever. Takuya and I sing them whenever there's a long silence, when we're traveling, when we're in public... Or just when we feel like annoying people." Takuya grinned and swung his arm over my shoulders to give me a squeeze. The gesture made my heart beat faster, but I didn't react. "We're best friends, partners in crime, brother and sister, and all of that shit. Now Takuya, if you don't mind, get the hell off of me!" I gave him a half-hearted push, and he stumbled away and flailed like I'd just shoved him with all of my strength. I giggled at him and shook my head at his antics. "You know I can't stand your man-stink!"

He grinned teasingly and ran ahead of our group to start a new song. The lot of us passed the time like that. Takuya and I nearly went through our entire repitoire of songs. He sang Can't Touch This, I sang Milkshakes, he sang Big Butts, and we were in the middle of singing the Pokemon Theme Song when JP interrupted us with a strained sound. I broke off singing and followed where he was pointing. "No." I said bluntly, narrowing my eyes. Night had fallen without me noticing, but that didn't stop me from seeing the dead end. "No, the universe is not allowed to screw with us. I refuse to allow it." I marched to where the tracks broke off in front of a huge canyon and looked around for any other way of getting across. When it became clear to me there was no conveniently placed tree to push over, I glared up at the star-speckled sky. "Fuck you, universe. Fuck you."

Takuya frowned at the space that prevented us from crossing and kicked at the ground, shoving his fists in his pants pockets. "I don't think you have a say in whatever the universe says." he said dryly, shaking his head. I scowled at him, but he ignored it and sighed heavily. "Well, what now?"

JP kneeled at the edge and looked over. I bit my lip to withhold the urge to warn him to be careful. It's one thing to tell Tommy to keep within sight of us. It's an entirely different thing to tell someone older than me what to do. He made a curious little noise and said, "Hey, guys! That trail leads to the bottom!" He pointed at a trail that only had about two feet of walking space.

Everyone but me shuffled forward to stand next to him. I have to physically restrain myself from grabbing the back of Tommy's and Takuya's shirts. Am I seriously the only one who's worried about the edge crumbling and all of them plummeting to their doom? Probably. I wonder what I'd do if any of them really did die. Part of me wants to think that I'd become all strong and determined to avenge them. The reality is that I'd probably become terrified and want to go home more than ever. Takuya straightened himself and looked around. "There are lights down there. Maybe it's someone that can help us!"

Zoe and Tommy nodded in agreement while JP looked slightly disgruntled. I'm pretty sure I knew why. No, _'good job, JP!'_ or _'Nicely spotted!' _I'd have been annoyed too. JP didn't speak up though and just ran after the others down the trail Takuya had pointed out. I didn't stop myself this time from calling, "Hey, you guys, wait!" None of them heard or, if they did indeed hear me, ignored me. I scoffed slighty and made my own way down, mumbling to myself all the while. "Yeah, sure. Let's all run recklessly down the narrow trail of the steep canyon wall in the complete darkness. That's not dangerous at all. Great plan, worthy only of Takuya's genius."

I reached the bottom just as they were all hopping across the river on a bunch of stones. I followed as carefully as I could. The current was fast and the stones were damp. All it would take was one misstep for me to fall into the water. I don't have much of an aversion to getting wet, but I prefer to stay dry when able to. They were all looking around in confusion, and I raised an eyebrow at JP's annoyed face. "Well, it's not like we were subtle. Whoever is down here doesn't want to be found."

Tommy started to tug on Takuya's arm and whimpered his name. Takuya turned to where the little one was looking and gasped in amazement. "Woah, Alex! Come 'ere, you gotta check this out!" I ran over to where they were and stared as well. There was a kind of mural, or something, on the wall. It looked like an angel boy with six wings overlooking a circle of symbols. "What is that?" Takuya whispered in awe.

I knew it was rhetorical. I knew it wouldn't solve anythning to answer. But who am I? I'm Alex Car-fucking-don, and I'll be damned if I let any oppurtinity to annoy Taki up! "How the hell should I know? I know I'm smarter than you, Taki, but even I can communicate with stone. It'd be cool, though!" He didn't even look all that annoyed with the insult, a fact that made me pout slightly. Either he was just getting used to me- which it's about time, considering how long we've known each other- or that was just a weak insult.

Zoe walked closer to the wall and went to touch it before apparently deciding against it. She took a single step back and looked back and forth, like she was searching for a plaque for the title of it. When she didn't find it, she shrugged and said, "Kind of pretty."

Bokomon took out his trusty book and shook his head. "Pretty? Pretty she says..." He scoffed slightly before informing us, "These are the marks of the ten legendary warriors!" The others echoed him in confusion. I crouched next to the digimon and looked over his shoulders to see the pages. I couldn't read it though, so I just plopped down next to him.

Neemon tilted his head and said obliviously, "Hm... I've never heard of them!"

Bokomon made a motion like he was about to hit Neemon upside the head with his book, but he held himself back from the obvious urge. He's a better person than me, then. I'd have slapped Neemon for his stupidity ages ago. "Are you serious? The legend of the ten warriors is the first thing we learn in Digital World History!" Oh Gods, they even have school here? Please don't have them make us go... I hate school...

Neemon looked thoughtful before eventually shrugging. "I must have been sick that day. But they sure are pretty!" I can't decide if his ignorance is annoying as hell or hilarious. It'll probably depend on the context in the future.

Bokomon screamed in aggravation and hid his face in the pages of the book. Instead of cursing and throwing a fit, which I'm sure he wanted very much to do, he started to speak. "In ancient times, there were terrible wars between the beast digimon and the humanoid digimon for control of the digital world! One day, an angel digimon named Lucemon appeared!" Ah, so that's who the angel-looking boy carved into the stone was. "He taught them to resolve their differences and live in peace, and the fighting stopped**. **

"Lucemon was a wise, kind ruler. But the peace in the digital world was short-lived.Lucemon, obsessed with his power, began to torment the peace-loving digimon until they could take no more. It was then that ten brave warriors rose against him. After a fierce battle, they defeated Lucemon, restoring the peace. The legend says that one day, the spirits of these ancient warriors will rise again in times of trouble." So does that mean that we can't go home until we save the digital world from Cherubimon? Piece of cake. It won't be so hard.

Neemon sighed dreamily and asked, "Read it to me again?"

Bokomon hummed in mocking thought before putting the book back in his pants. Which still disturbs me, by the way. "Um... No." You tell him, buddy! If you wanna hear it again, Neemon, learn to read! ... Well, then again, I can't read the little squiggles any better, but you're a digimon! You should know your own language!

Tommy cocked his head in a cute little way and pointed at one of the symbols on the top. "Hey, I know that symbol!" I looked and suddenly I recognized it as well. It was the kanji for 'fire'.

Zoe recognized it as well. Her eyes widened in surprise and she looked at Takuya curiously, like he knew what she was thinking. She seriously overestimates his ability to know what the hell is going on. "It's the same one we saw when Takuya spirit-evolved into Agunimon!" I blinked in surprise and looked at the mural to realize that she was right. Agunimon's belt had the kanji for 'fire' etched into it.

The small child pointed at the symbol next to Agunimon's. This one was the kanji for 'light'. I thought it a split second before Tommy confirmed it. "And that mark next to it was on Kouji's shoulder when he turned into Lobomon!" That must mean that each kanji is the sign for the warriors! 'Fire', 'light', 'ice', 'wind', 'thunder', 'earth', 'water', 'wood', 'steel', and 'darkness'... We could already count out fire and light, obviously... I wonder which one the others could get? I wasn't sure if I would have a spirit since I don't have a d-tector, so I wasn't getting my hopes up.

The blond girl sighed dramatically and said breathily, "I wonder if I'll be next! Oh, I hope my digimon is cute!" Yeah, because the bad guys are really going to be scared of cuteness... No one has ever run away from a disgruntled pout... Well, no one that I know. Boyfriends may do it when their girlfriends want them to do something with them...

Tommy's excitement matched with Zoe's, because he smiled up at me gleefully. "I'm gonna be the biggest, scariest digimon ever!" He threw his arms up in the air to signify just how huge he wanted to be. I hoped he was wrong. I wouldn't be able to stomach it if my new baby brother turned out to be fierce and intimidating. Gods know that I've lost enough dignity hiding behind Takuya...

JP, the ever pessimistic bastard that he is, had to shoot Tommy down. "Not likely, shorty. I mean, there's no way we'll all get to be digimon." I glowered at him, and he shrugged at me. "Well it's true. Statistically speaking, the odds of all five of us becoming digimon are..." He waved his hand vaguely through the air, not finishing his sentence.

I snorted at him and copied his hand motion. "All five of us, yeah. But if you would direct your attention to the empty pockets," I patted my pockets to emphasize, only to feel something obstruct it. What I took out was a tiny spiral handbook, the kind where the cover flips over the top. "Okay, _mostly_ empty pockets," I amended with a small grin. JP snickered at me and I tossed the notebook at him. "Ah, shaddap. I don't even remember when I put it in there."

He showed surprisingly good reflexes in catching the notebook and flipping through it. "It's blank." he said in surprise. "You got a pencil in your bag? It might be a good idea to write down these symbols so we have a future reference." I took one out and tossed it to him without a word. He grunted a thanks and started to write.

I didn't even register that Takuya had moved away from us before he whimpered a little and said, "We've got company." We all spun around to see candle-looking digimon surrounding us. They were short little fuckers, with a lick of flame for hair and a candle holder for legs. Wax dripped off of their heads, and they were all glaring angrily at us.

One of them hopped toward us, and he looked different from the others. He had a mustache made of wax that looked more like it belonged on a can of Chef Boyardee, and held a match as tall as he was like it was a staff. When he spoke, it was with a gravelly voice taut with anger. "Why have you humans come to our village? You are not welcome here!"

Takuya stepped forward to speak for us and kept his tone as civil and polite as possible. "We're on our way to the forest terminal. We're sorry to disturb you, we're just passing through." Good job, Taki! You apologized for being on their territory, you kept your posture unintimidating, and you told them where to find you if they think you're lying. I see no reason for them to have an issue with us.

The lead candle-dude didn't seem to share my sentiments, because he growled at us and said, "You're melting my heart!" Dude, have you seen a mirror lately? It's not exactly your heart that's melting...

All at once, the other digimon behind lead candle-dude said, "Ooh, that's a no-no!" It's kind of creepy, in all honestly. Have you ever had complete hatred hurled at you with such force that you can actually feel it in like a punch to the chest? The air rushes out of your lungs in such a way that it leaves you gasping. That's the feeling I got from them all, with a barely contained hostility that made me nervous.

The leader continued on like his followers hadn't spoken. "You mean to steal the ancient artifact from us, don't you?! Well, you won't get away with it!"

It's easy to see which of these candle-dudes are the suck-ups. The two at the sides of leader-dude definitely qualified. The one to our right, leader-dude's left, nodded emphatically in agreement. "You're right! The human children must be punished!" The threatening tone made me tense and take a half-step in front of Tommy.

The digimon to our right, leader-dude's left, leaned forward a little and said eagerly, "Hey boss, you want us to wax 'em for ya'?" No one should ever be eager to punish children like that, even if we are trespassing. The display was enough to get the message _'you did wrong'_. Actually threatening and hurting us is a bit much.

Takuya floundered in coming up with a response until Bokomon saved the day. The digimon ran to the front of our group and brought attention to himself. "Wait! Stop! Let me explain! These humans have come to help us save the digital world! Not steal some artifact!" Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I never actually heard Takuya agree to help save them all. And if this was how all of the digimon were going to treat us, maybe he shouldn't! At least until the others got their spirits.

Taki, in his ever loving stupidity, just had to step in and add his two cents. He looked down at Bokomon, an honest and innocent look of curiosity on his face, as he said, "Well, yeah, but we didn't know that at first." I face-palmed so hard I think I busted a few brain cells. Taki looked toward me with his eyebrows raised and asked, "What? Was there a bug or something flying around you?"

The only pest annoying me at the moment is you, Takuya. I said as much with an exassperated shake of the head. "You're not supposed to tell that _to_ people who want to kill us!" I thought that over before tilting my head. "Well, at least, I think they want to kill us. I really can't think of anything else they could mean by 'waxing us'. You think it's like whacking, but in candle form?"

He put on his thinking face before turning back to the watching candle-digimon and asking blatantly, "Do you want to kill us? Because if she doesn't know, it's going to bug her until she finds out." Good thing he knows me so well. That really would have bugged me. All of the digimon nodded as one and Taki turned back to me. "Yes, Alex, they want to kill us. Are you satisfied now?"

I grinned and nodded weakly. I really probably could have figured that out on my own, without alerting the others to the danger we were in, but Takuya's always been the more blunt between us. Bokomon shook his head and covered his face with one of his hands. "You two aren't helping." I muttered an apology while the little white digimon turned back to address our audience. "This may be hard to belive, but somehow this boy," he swung his entire arm to point at Takuya, "was infused with the spirit of one of the ten legendary warriors, Agunimon!"

Apparently, this was both the right thing and the wrong thing to say. All of their focus went to Takuya, who for once in his life would have been better off without the attention. Takuya ducked his head and shifted his weight nervously. The digimon behind leader-dude and candle-cohorts turned to whisper amongst themselves, while the cohorts exchanged shocked gazes. Leader-dude himself just stared at Takuya and growled out, "You say Agunimon? Impossible!"

Some of the digimon on the ridges above our heads agreed with the impossibility while others thought otherwise. One of them said loudly, "That's a hot one!", while another whispered to his neighbor, "What if it really is him?" Yet another agreed, "He's pulling our whisks!" I almost cringed in distaste. So many candle puns, so _not_ funny. The fact that some of them actually thought we were telling the truth gave me some hope, though. We might be able to get out of this unscathed if we played our cards right.

Leader-dude muttered to himself, just loud enough for me to hear, "Well, isn't this interesting?" It sounded like he wasn't sure what to believe himself, considering he was the first one to shout that it was impossible. That might have just been the abrupt shock speaking earlier, though. Leader-dude spun around to talk with the minions at his sides. Instinct told me to run away while they were distracted, but this wasn't like before with the blob-head-things. There wasn't anywhere for us to run. We were surrounded by stone walls, and there wasn't enough time for all of us to scale them safely and run away. I was just about to whisper to Takuya and ask what we should do now when they all suddenly spun around again. I flinched, waiting for them to attack us, when Leader-dude threw his arms in the air. "Please, forgive our rude behavior, my dear young friends! We are the Candlemon Tribe, and it is our sacred duty to protect the ancient artifact!" ... Candle bodies... Candle puns... Candlemon... How the hell did I not guess the name before?! "So, which one of you young ones inherited the spirit of a legendary warrior?"

Bokomon already pointed him out, why ask again? Unless you want to know for a specific reason... I narrowed my eyes and was about to demand why he wanted to know, but Bokomon answered him before I could get anything out. "It was this one, Takuya."

Takuya gave the barest of whimpers that showed his displeasure at being singled out. I glared angrily at the little nuisance of a digimon and snapped, "If he wants to be introduced, he can do it himself!" Everyone, the Candlemon included, stared at me in surprise. I glared back at the leader, not even trying to hide my suspicion. From the corner of my eye, I saw the two Candlemon that had threatened us exchange looks. I couldn't interpret it, and that made me bristle even more.

The leader- who I'm going to call Mustachemon from now on, because he's the only one with a 'stache- bowed his head a little at me. "Your protection of your friends is admirable, my dear, but unneeded. We would not dream to challenge the holder of Agunimon." Didn't make me feel better, but I took it anyway. I nodded stiffly and stayed by Takuya's side when Mustachemon turned back to him. "Well, you certainly have a brave face, young man! On behalf of all the Candlemon Tribe, I bid you all welcome!" He hopped away on his candlestick and threw over his shoulder, "Please, be our guests!"

_'Be our guest, be our guest, be our gueeeeeest!'_ Takuya threw me an amused look, like he knew what I was thinking. Probably did, too. Asshole knows me so damn well that it's scary some times. But even he knew now was not the time to quote old yet classic Disney movies, because he muttered from the side of his mouth, "Something doesn't seem right..."

It's not like we had much of a choice in the matter, though, especially when Mustachemon called back to us rather creepily, "Come along now, don't dawdle!"

Takuya barely had time to whisper, "Stay on your guard!" to us before three 'escorts' came over to herd us in the direction Mustachemon went. They felt more like body guards to me. They stayed to the left, right, and behind us to make sure we went the right way. So maybe neither escort nor body guard is the right word. Maybe 'prison guard' is more accurate. Soon the Candlemon had a big ol' roarin' fire and were dancing around it, creating their own music with a chant. It was actually pretty catchy. I caught myself bouncing to it a couple of times and Takuya finally just stole my bag off of my shoulder and pushed me towards the dancing circle, laughing at my protest.

Without my consent, I felt myself dip into the rhythm of the song. I twisted and twirled and stepped and jumped, eventually laughing at the pure bliss. The music had made me completely drop my guard, and I honestly didn't care enough to put it back up. I heard the others laughing at me as well, letting their own guards drop. If the Candlemon had meant us harm, they would have struck already.

As soon as the thought crossed my mind, the Candlemon who'd been dancing in a circle around the fire threw the plants they had in their hands in the fire. A cloud of green dust rose from the flames and the Candlemon fanned the smoke over to us with their arms. I started to cough and stagger towards the others, covering my mouth and nose for whatever it was worth.

Bokomon, little knowledgeable bastard that he is, had one of the plants in his hand and said, "Ugh, look at this! It's sleeping clover!" Well, _now_ you tell us this. It would have been useful to know what they were dancing with before they decided to drug us. He and Neemon slumped over together, just near my bag. The others were all on their knees now, and I got to just within a yard of them before I stumbled down as well.

I dimly heard Mustachemon exclaim angrily, "So, you claim to have the ancient spirit of Agunimon, do you? Well, we'll soon shed some light on this!" I knew it! I _knew_ it! Did I or did I not call it? Shit, I knew we should have been careful. Now who knows what's going to happen? I don't want Takuya to have to fight them alone!

Someone shook my shoulder, and I heard Takuya say to all of us, "Come on, you guys, we can't stay here!" I was struggling to stay awake as it was. I'd been closer to the fire than the others, so I'd breathed more of the dust in than them. Takuya's shook me harder, and his voice turned more urgent. "Hey, come on Alex! Stay with us!" I whimpered, a low key note sound that Takuya instantly translated into, _'I can't!'_ He cursed quite colorfully before yelling out, "The river! Get into the river!"

He practically picked me up and dragged me into the water, and it was such an abrupt wake up call that I opened my mouth to cry out and got a lungful of water. Someone grabbed my arm and dragged me up, and I coughed up so much water that I asked delirously, "Why is it that whenever someone nearly drowns, the first thing they want is something to drink?"

The laughter of my rescuer made me realize it was JP holding me up, not Takuya like I'd first thought. "You always got some smart-ass thing to say, don't you Alex?" he asked with a half-smile. I grinned sheepishly at him and he yelled down at Takuya harshly, "Great idea, genius! Now what do we do!"

I looked at them all, and realized that Takuya was supporting Tommy in the same way that JP was supporting me. Little guy probably didn't know how to swim. I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't even think of him when the trouble started. All of my thoughts had been of Takuya. I'm going to have to make that up to him.

Zoe gasped loudly for air and said, "We should be safe here! I bet fire digimon like Candlemon can't get near the water!"

It was a logical conclusion, and I was just about to relax when the Candlemon came hopping on the fucking _wall_. Half of me was terrified and wanted to scream bloody murder. The other half was amazed and wanted to know how they were able to do that. The bloody murder side won out though, especially when the Candlemon shouted, "Think again, humans! _Lava Luggie_!"

First thing to run through my head? _'Ew, did they just hock a luggie at us?'_ Not the fact that said luggie was on fire, but that they spat on us. What does that say about me? Takuya shouted for us all to go under, and this time I took a breath before I dived beneath the water. JP tugged me in the direction everyone else was going, and I shook him off to swim for myself. Not that I didn't appreciate his concern, but he'd need all of his strength if it came down to us fighting as well.

We popped up in a hidden channel, out of sight of the Candlemon. We listened to them look for us for a minute before turning towards one another. Tommy was clinging to the rockface, while us three bigger kids treaded water for a moment. Takuya looked at us one at a time and said, "I'll distract them. Then, on my signal, you guys make a break for it!"

I knew he was going to say it, but my insides still froze at the thought of him fighting alone. Legendary warrior or not, he was only one person. How well would he do against an entire tribe of enemies by himself? Zoe and JP frowned at the plan themselves, and Zoe scoffed slightly. "Some plan!"

JP snorted and started to speak loudly, but I splashed some water in his face to make him shut up. He glared at me while spluttering, but he seemed to have gotten the message because he lowered his voice some. Not a lot, but enough that we wouldn't be discovered. "Hold on there, Mister President! I don't remember electing you leader of this stupid club!" He glanced between me and Zoe before finally just looking at Zoe and saying, "Right?" Huh. Guess he knew I would have sided with Takuya.

The blonde nodded emphatically and said, "Right! We're all in this together, so any decisions we make, we make as a _team._" She put emphasis on the word team, as if just saying it alone would drill it into Takuya's brain.

He looked slightly annoyed at their arguing, but then Tommy almost fell from where he was trying to stay afloat. I reached over and pushed him a little farther up the wall without a thought. He flashed me a grateful look before looking at the other three and saying, "I really want to help, but I'm too slow! You guys should just go on without me."

Takuya snorted angrily and snapped, "That's not an option!" For once, Taki and I are in total agreement. I'd rather die myself than leave any one of us behind, least of all my new baby brother! Takuya turned back to the arguement between him and the other two and said, "Look, if I spirit evolve into Agunimon, I can snuff out the Candlemon!"

JP scoffed out with narrowed eyes, "Right, spirit boy! Better read your digimon instruction manuel before you try something dumb like that again!" His concern is touching, no matter how he goes about showing it. Could have used a little less sarcasm, though.

Zoe's way of showing concern was a lot less mean-sounding, though the jist of it was the same. "He's right. You shouldn't try fighting alone, you're not very good at it yet." And how else would he get good at it it he doesn't practice? According to Bokomon's book, we're going to be fighting some big baddie that's trying to destroy slash take over the digital world. If Takuya can't handle some little small fry like this, then we're in trouble.

Due to the arguing, I'd lost track of where our pursuers were looking for us. I heard the Candlemon getting closer to our hiding spot at the same time JP said, "Here they come! Duck!" We all went under at the same time, and I kept a close watch on where the lights from the Candlemon's whisks were. Once they were far enough away, we all went back up.

Takuya only came half-up, though, just enough for us to hear him speak. "Thanks for the vote of confidence." he said in annoyance. He pulled the goggles down over his face, and I had to force myself to remember that they weren't there just for decoration. "Just get Tommy and Alex out of here, alright?" He turned to go, but I latched onto his arm before he could leave us. Takuya turned back to snap at me, but something of my fear and worry must have showed. His expression softened lightly, and he put one of his hands on the one of mine that was holding him back. "I'll be fine, I promise. I'm not going to let them get me."

He gave my hand an assuring squeeze, and I squeezed back. "You better not. You're not allowed to die yet, Kanbara." It came out as a whisper, and I cursed myself mentally for not being stronger. But I'd admitted to myself a long time ago that I needed Takuya more than he needed me, and he knew it. "Be careful." And with that, I let him go. He just looked at me for a couple of moments before he finally ducked back beneath the water and swam away. I looked back to the others and saw them all staring at me. "What?" I barked defensively. "Stop starin' at me and get your asses to safety!"

My tone was enough to bring them back to the present. JP nodded agreement and moved to help Tommy climb. Zoe stayed behind for a bit before looking at me curiously. "Is there something you want to tell me about you and Takuya, Alex?" I sighed and shook my head before climbing up myself. "Okay, fine, but we're talking later, Cardon!"

We got half-way up the cliff-face before a shout down below made us look. "I see one of them, get him!" I slipped down by half a foot when I saw them chasing Takuya, and I felt myself pale considerably. He'd said they wouldn't get close enough to hurt him, yet their attacks were making him stumble and trip over himself.

Both JP and Tommy made a grab for me, but it was Zoe who pushed me up. "Get a hold of yourself, Cardon!" she snapped. JP grabbed my forearm and hauled me up to the ledge he and Tommy were standing on, and helped Zoe up once I was stable. Despite the blonde's words, she seemed just as worried over our friend as I was.

Takuya looked like he was fiddling with something in his hands, which I assumed was his d-tector. One of the Lava Luggie attacks made him jump to the side, and his d-tector fell to the ground. Takuya cried out in shock and made a lunge towards it, making the Candlemon chasing after him hesitate. It was just enough time for Takuya to stand tall and raise his d-tector. "It's spirit evolution time!"

The coccoon of evolution that wrapped around him was slowly becoming familiar. Soon enough, Agunimon stood in Taki's place. We humans cheered for him while the Candlemon awed. Mustachemon said loudly, "Well, I'll be dipped! The brat really is Agunimon!" So, ha! Take that, ya' disbelievin' idiot!

Agunimon stuck his arms out to the side and punched his fists together. Fire spun around from his shoulder and joined at his fists, and Agunimon yelled out, "I summon the power of the pyro tornado!" He punched the fire out out from his fists with a wordless shout and scored a bull's eye. But I'm confused. I thought that attack was called the Pyro Punch and the Pyro Tornado was when he spun around and his entire body was covered in flames... Could be wrong, though. This is the first time I've really seen him fight.

His attack made the Candlemon back off slightly, but they bounced back quickly. The flames at the top of their heads seemed slightly bigger, and they wore evil little smirks that made my worry come back. Come on, Takuya- Agunimon- whoever the hell you are! I know you can do it! Zoe cried out, "Fire attacks don't work on Candlemon! He should know that!" Well, it's not like we've ever met any of these guys before this! Maybe the extra heat would have melted the wax a little and dripped into their eyes or something. If she knows something we don't know, or something, she's free to help out!

JP agreed with her, though, and the way he worded it made me want to push him over the cliff. "Yeah, that wasn't too bright. Come on, we better get out of here before we get waxed!" But Takuya... He... JP wants to _leave_ Takuya? What if he needs our help? What if he loses and they kill him? I was about to protest when JP let out a startled yelp, and I spun around to find he'd slipped and fallen on ice. _Ice_. I had a flash-back to where the first two spirits were hidden. Agunimon, warrior of flame, was hidden in fire. Lobomon, warrior of light, was hidden in light. This must be where the warrior of ice is!

I was the only one to make the connection, though. JP rubbed his back and whimpered a little, "I hate ice skating." Karma, thy name is JP. Take that, Mister Let's Abandon The Boy Fighting For Our Lives! I did the smart thing and stayed where there wasn't any ice while the other three explored further, slipping and sliding.

Zoe took it nice and slow, taking little baby steps that didn't take her very far, and said, "Be careful, Tommy!" The child hadn't gone as far as them, but still nodded warily. The cave really was made of ice. Floor, walls, ceiling, rocks, everything was covered with the slippery stuff. Icicles hung above and below our heads, some connecting in the air. It would have been pretty at any other time. If Takuya and I had found this in the real world, then we would have treated the icicles like fun mirrors at carnivals. Skinny, fat. Skinny, fat.

I turned my bad on the ice cave and looked down at Takuya. His two opponents were breathing fire on him. More than anything, I wanted to help him. So many times I've imagined something like this at home. It's like a movie: the bad guy that needs to be beaten, but the hero alone isn't enough to do it. He needs the help of his most faithful friend, the one that's he's known forever, to vanquish the evil. But its not just a story anymore, and II'm frozen. I want Takuya to be safe. I want to protect with everything I have and more. But how can I do that when I'm paralyzed with fear?!

Tommy broke me out of my thoughts by shouting, "Hold on Takuya, I'm coming!" I made a lunge towards him when he jumped over the edge, but I just barely missed the back of his shirt. If the both of them get hurt, I'm never forgiving myself. Over his shoulder, he called, "Sorry Alex!" Tommy stepped into the shallows of the water and started to use his head to throw water at the Candlemon, who flinched back at the direct contact and ceased their attacks on Takuya. "Lights out, ya' meanies! I won't be just a little kid in the way ever again!"

My heart swelled with pride. He'd said he wanted to be a hero, like Takuya. JP and I doubted him. That day, at that moment, Tommy proved us wrong. The measure of a hero isn't the size of his body, it's the size of his heart. A blast of light behind us made me flinch involuntarily, and a figurine rose through the air. I caught a single glimpse of it as it passed me, and it looked like a white bear with a green head-cap. Looks like the spirits don't want him to be the 'biggest, scariest digimon ever' either. Thank God for small favors.

The spirit floated down to hover in front of Tommy, and the river around him turned to ice. I wondered for a moment if his eyes would glaze over, like Kouji's and Takuya's did when they first spirit evolved. If he did, I didn't see it. Tommy took his d-tector out of his pocket and stuck it out towards the bear. "Spirit! Come to me!" The spirit went into the d-tector in a beam of light, and Tommy disappeared in the coccoon of light. When it disappeared, the white bear replaced him. He had the kanji for 'ice' emblazoned on the head-gear, and had green boots on his little bear feet. He didn't wear any armor other than that.

Zoe and JP crouched at the edge of the ice cave, leaning over the side with their hands supporting them. "That's amazing!" Zoe gasped at the same time JP groaned, "That's impossible!"

The Candlemon had the same reaction as them. Mustachemon gasped out something that I didn't hear, but I clearly heard Bokomon yell out, "It is! It's Kumamon, the legendary warrior of ice!" Oh yeah, I called it. Am I awesome or what? When the fight is over and Tommy's back to normal, I'm going to have to tell him how proud I am of him.

Kumamon stuck his arms out to the side and said, "Time to teach you bullies a lesson! _CRYSTAL FREEZE!"_ He blew a stream of freezing air at one of the Candlemon, who yelled out. Ice started to creep over him until he was completely frozen over. The expression of horror on his face will likely appear in my dreams tonight, but bastard deserved it for daring to harm my best friend.

The other Candlemon growled and said, "Hey there, teddy bear! You want a play-mate?!" Fire came from his mouth, and he spun in a circle until a tower of flame replaced where he once stood. Then he was surrounded with data, and when it faded an entirely new digimon stood there.

The only thing that was the same was the paleness of the skin, or what little skin I could see. He had a wizard's cap on his head and a cape/cloak clasped around his neck. The large collar of it hid most of his face, and only his dark green eyes shown through. Dark blonde hair peeked out from under the hat. In his gloved hands was a staff as tall as he was, with a broken sun at the end.

Bokomon spoke up from where he and Neemon stood with the watching Candlemon. "Wizardmon!" Nice to see this digimon's name is as obvious as his previous form's was. Candlemon looks like a candle, Wizardmon looks like a wizard. Maybe everything else will be as obvious too! "This mysterious champion level digimon can make you disappear with his Electro Squall and Magical Game attacks." You can take him! That Harry Potter wanna-be got nothin' on yous two!

Kumamon took a deep breath and shot another Crystal Freeze at Wizardmon. Wizardmon dodged by jumping in the air and pretty much drop-kicking Kumamon back a few feet. "Take off, Teddy" The white bear went tail-over-head a couple of times before landing on his face.

Wizardmon's voice made me pause. Without thinking, I said out-loud, "Dude, did Wizardmon's voice just do a reverse puberty thing?" JP and Zoe choked on air and started laughing. I smirked at them and said, "No, seriously! It was deeper when he was a fucking _candle_. Now that he actually resembles a human, puberty reversed itself!"

JP shook his head and said, "I know now isn't the time to be laughing, but seriously, Alex! Why do I get the feeling that only you would notice that?" I pouted and stuck my tongue out at him, making him chuckle and turn back to the fight. His chuckle turned into a choking gasp, and the large boy spluttered, "What the-? Wizardmon disappeared!"

Zoe and I looked back as well, and Wizardmon really was no where in sight. Zoe glared at me reproachfully for distracting us, and I mouthed, _'Sorry'_ with an apoletic smile. Lightening came from seemingly no where, and streaked towards Agunimon. The warrior of flame barely dodged the first two shots with grunts of exertion. Wizardmon reappeared between Agunimon and Kumamon with his staff in the air. "Not bad, legendary warrior, but I've got plenty up my sleeve!" Or, in this case, under his cape. It might be slightly difficult to have something up your sleeve with them tucked into your gloves. Regardless of my smart-ass thoughts, multiple Wizardmons appeared around him. "Too bad, you're going to lose! No matter which Wizardmon you choose!"

The three of us that were still human looked around frantically, and JP shouted out, "Which is the real Wizardmon?" I shivered slightly. Dammit, I hated these things as a kid. I'm not observent enough to realize what's different and what's the same. Takuya was always the better one at it. At least he's better than me at some things. Not a lot, but some!

The other female frowned and said, "They all look the same to me!"

Agunimon looked around in a circle, trying to find the real one. Wizardmon taunted him while he was looking. "Agunimon, can't you see? All these Wizardmon are me! We all look real because we are. Just try to run, you won't get far!" Was he trying to rhyme, or did it just come out that way? Because that's just sad. His rhymes are better than mine when I try to write songs.

A grunt from the armor-clad warrior and he called out, "Only one Wizardmon is real, and I'm gonna find him!" You tell 'im, Taki! ... Agi... Um... Damn, I need to find a humiliating nickname for Agunimon too...

All of the Wizardmons in the circle spun their staff, and his voice called out, "Every warrior must fall! Your time is up, _ELECTRO SQUALL!"_ Lightening came from all of their staffs to meet in the circle. Agunimon leaped up into the air in a dodge, but his battle with Ceberumon proved that this was only a temperary measure. We needed to find the real Wizardmon, but how?

Kumamon had the answer, and he called out from where he was still laying on the ground, "Hey Agunimon, look down here!" We all did, and I saw what he was talking about a heart-beat before he spoke. "Only one of them has a shadow!" The shadow covered the warrior of ice in a way that discomforted me. He was so little, so adorable... How could he possibly be one of the legendary warriors who'd defeated Lucemon and saved the digital world?

Agunimon thanked Kumamon and yelled out, "Game's over!" The armor over his knee had these little holes in them. I wouldn't have noticed had fire not come out of them when he kneed Wizardmon in the face. The following heat wave bowled the magical digimon over, and the strip of data appeared around him. Agunimon took out Takuya's d-tector and said, "I never did believe in magic! FRACTAL CODE, DIGITIZE!"

Once the data stream finished entering the d-tector, Wizardmon was replaced with the original Candlemon, who moaned in pain. Zoe and I cheered in our respective languages, her in Italian and me in French, and JP tried to copy us only to fail tragically. I laughed at him as Agunimon stooped to help Kumamon stand, and I laughed even harder at how awkward the height difference between the two warriors was. Kumamon thanks Agunimon for helping him up, and Agunimon shook his head. "No, thank you. You're one brave little bear!" Damn right he is! I couldn't have done half of what he did.

Data wrapped around them and disappeared to reveal Takuya and Tommy. Zoe and JP and I all climbed down the side of the cliff carefully. Zoe and JP were talking about the battle that had just ended, and I was just concentrating on not falling. Climbing up wasn't nearly as hard as climbing down. Gravity's a bitch. We all gathered together, us five humans and two digimon. Mustachemon met us with two more of his goonies and told us, "I'm afraid I owe you all an apology. The truth is we thought you might possess the spirits of the legendary warriors, but we still had to make sure. I'm sorry we didn't trust you."

My jaw unhinged. Takuya and Tommy could have been hurt and all they have to say is 'sorry'?! The new bearer of ice frowned deeply and exclaimed, "So all of this has been a test?"

Takuya shook his fist angrily at Mustachemon. "Well that pretty much stinks. You're lucky I don't pinch your lights out for that!" We should do it anyway. See how they like being chased around and threatened.

Mustachemon laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head. "I'm so sorry! You have every right to be angry!" He looked at me and I felt myself tense. I doubted they'd attack again, but I wasn't taking any chances. Mustachemon surprised me by bowing slightly, and the two digimon next to him copied. "If there was one honest thing I've said tonight, it is that I admire your need to protect your friends. Trust your instincts, my dear. They will be your greatest weapon."

I snorted in a very unladylike manner. "Yeah, sure. Cause I'll really trust the word of an asshole who tried to kill me and my friends." At least they had the decency to flinch a little. I went on, caught up in a wave of self-righteous anger. "Suppose Kumamon hadn't come to Tommy in time! Would you have 'waxed' a small seven year old boy for helping his friend? If Takuya hadn't thought to jump into the river, would you have killed us in our sleep? How is that right?"

A hand clamped down on my shoulder, and I glared into the stern eyes of Takuya. We stared at each other for a few seconds before I scoffed and turned away from all of them, crouching down and rooting through my bag. No one spoke for a whole minute, watching me sift through my things, before Tommy spoke up. "Um... I'm eight, not seven..." It lightened the atmosphere considerably. I was the only one to not laugh.

Takuya must have accidentally pressed a button his his d-tector or something, because the next thing I know a voice calls out from no where, "Fractal Code, rendered." A stream of data came from it, making the 'brave and powerful Takuya' yelp and nearly drop it. The data flew above our heads and wrapped around mid-air.

We all watched in wonder as it did this. Like always, Bokomon had the answer to our unasked question. "Wizardmon had the code!" A dark sillhouette appeared in the middle of the swirling data. When it faded, a bridge connected the two sides of the gorge. Takuya's grin widened excitedly, and I half-worried he'd want to get across right away.

We all looked at the bridge and Mustachemon informed us, "Wizardmon held within him the fractal code for the bridge, which protected our village from evil digimon." ... Okay, confusion time. Why would not having a bridge protect them from evil digimon? Wouldn't that just mean they'd have to climb down here to pass? Anyone care to explain this to me? ... No one? Okay then, I guess I'm not the only one confused. Mustachemon turned back to us and looked directly at Takuya. "Young Takuya, for many years no one has crossed this canyon, but you have my official permission to use this bridge. Follow the tracks, and they will lead you to the forest terminal. But it is a perilous journey."

Three, two, one... Right on queue, JP whined a little and said, "Uh, hey guys, why don't we think about this a little? I mean there's still time to go home!" Well, at least he's being nice about it this time instead of dragging us along for the ride.

Zoe giggled at him a little and said teasingly, "You're just jealous because Tommy found his inner digimon and you haven't yet!" It was harmless fun, the same kind of teasing Takuya and I do to each other.

JP didn't see it that way. He scoffed at her and looked away with a little scowl on his face. "Why would I even care about that? Shorty can have it!" He glared off to the side and stuffed his hands in the pocket of his jumpsuit. "It's just that being here is like working!"

Takuya slugged the larger boy on the arm playfully and said, "We all know how you feel about that!" That pulled a laugh out of all of us, and I laughed even hardger when JP shoved him forcefully off. Takuya went to hide behind me then apparently thought better of it when I raised my eyebrow. He chuckled nervously when JP advanced on him, but a train horn gave us all pause. "Hey, someone just beat us across the train tracks!"

Thank you Takuya, for once again pointing out the obvious. Way to mooch the benefits of their hardwork, though, you ass! ... Why do I get the feeling that Kouji is on the train? Tommy turned to look at Takuya with curiosity on his face. "What do we do now?" The question answered itself when he yawned widely. "Oh. I guess that's what now." he muttered, rubbing at his eyes.

I laughed softly at him before looking at Mustachemon. "Is it alright if we stay the night down here, with your tribe? I don't like the idea of us stumbling over each other trying to climb to the top at the moment." He nodded silently, and I picked up my bag before steering Tommy towards the relative safety of the cliff-side. "Come on, honey. You can sleep next to me."

The warrior of ice nodded numbly and allowed himself to be herded. He was out like a light as soon as his head hit his hat, which he was using as a pillow. The others followed suit, mumbling among themselves. I sat down next to Tommy but didn't lie down. Almost immediately, Takuya was at my side and giving me puppy dog eyes. I snorted at him and patted my lap. The boy smiled at me and put his head down, right on my thigh. He'd taken his hat off before laying down, and I instinctively ran my hand through his hair. "Surprise me tonight." he muttered, already half-asleep.

Zoe and JP stopped what they were doing and stared at us, eyes wide. I waved them over and lowered my voice, not wanting to wake Tommy. "It's kind of a ritual for me to sing him to sleep whenever we're together. We've been doing it for as long as I can remember, so it'd be kind of weird for the both of us if I didn't. Will it bother you two?" They gave a negative and sat down right next to us, still staring. I tried not to let it bother me as I looked down to my best friend. His eyes were already closed. It wouldn't take much for him to go to sleep, so I decided on a short, slow song. One of my favorites to sing to him, in fact. I cleared my throat and started to sing, still threading my fingers through his hair.

_"Nothing's gonna harm you,_

_not while I'm around._

_Nothing's gonna harm you,_

_no sir,_

_not while I'm around!_

_Demons are prowling everywhere,_

_nowadays_

_I'll send 'em howlin', I don't care!_

_I got ways!_

_No one's gonna hurt you!_

_No one's gonna dare!_

_Others can desert you, not to worry!_

_Whistle, I'll be there!_

_Demons will charm you with a smile_

_for a while, but in time!_

_Nothing can harm you,_

_not while I'm around!"_

A glance down. He was already snoring softly. Zoe and JP sighed to themselves and smiled at me, talking without words. I nodded goodnight to them, sending them off to their own places to sleep. I spent five minutes just sitting there, watching Takuya sleep. I checked to make sure that none of the others were awake before bending and pressing my lips against his forehead. "Good night, Taki. Sweet dreams." Then I went to sleep myself.


	4. Kazemon Kicks It

**Disclaimer: Shiningheart of ThunderClan doesn't own Digimon.**

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><p>The next morning dawned bright and early. Too bright and too early. I hate mornings, especially the ones where I'm the first awake and have to be the mean person to make them all get up. Just my luck, this was one of those day. Surprisingly, the easiest to wake up was JP. I'd been expecting him to be the hardest. When he did get to his feet, I gave him a questioning look that he shrugged at. "What? I always get up early for school." Ah, that explains it.<p>

The next person to get up was Zoe. Not as surprising. She splashed herself in the face with some river water and was soon alert. She helped me wake Tommy up. He was more difficult than I would have thought. He kept asking his mother for five more minutes. When JP tried, Tommy attempted to hit him and told someone named Yutaka to knock it off. The brother he'd mentioned yesterday, maybe. He eventually remembered everything and got up, apologizing to JP as well.

And now, for the real challenge. The four of us stared down at Takuya, who was snoring like a chainsaw and had a snot bubble the size of my fist. Zoe expressed her disgust with said snot bubble. "That's just..." she trailed off, unable to name the exact emotion she wanted to use. She didn't have to finish, though. The rest of us knew exactly what she meant. Zoe and Tommy looked to me for instructions while JP simply nudged Takuya with his foot. "So, how do you usually wake him up, Alex?" she asked curiously.

It prompted me to smile at her and motion for JP to back away from the gogglehead. He did so nervously, having no idea what I was going to do. I cleared my throat importantly, took a deep breath, and shouted loud enough to echo around the canyon, "TAKUYA, BREAKFAST!" He immediately jolted up, eyes wide and looking around. First step of knowing how to revive him: mention food in any context. He realized he'd been tricked and gave me a nasty look for it, which I responded to with a cheeky smile. "Welcome back to the living, Taki! Did you bring me a present from the other side?"

He flipped me off in response and flopped back to the ground, hiding himself as best he could. So, he wants to fight, does he? Oh well, his loss. I grabbed his arm and tried to make him stand, but he whined loudly and yanked himself back down to curl into a ball. I tried to drag him by his foot, but he ended up kicking me in my gut. I grunted and rubbed the spot where he hit, scowling angrily at him. Taki opened one of his eyes to glare at me. Our stand-off was put to an end when JP said, "You realize I could just pick you up and throw you in the water, right Takuya?"

I crossed my arms and smiled triumphantly while Takuya cursed some more and finally got up, albeit unhappily. He saw me smiling and snapped at me, "What're you lookin' at?" I smiled wider, just to piss him off. He snarled in response and turned his back on me to stalk towards the river. He'll get over it. Takuya in the morning is never a pretty picture.

While he freshened up, I looked around and made a sound of surprise. "Huh. The Candlemon disappeared on us. I wanted to thank them for letting us stay the night." I paused as a distant clatter of falling rocks made it's way to me, and I smirked. "Either that or they're hiding from us again."

Zoe grinned at me from where she was trying to fix her hair and giggled as she said, "I'm sorry, hiding from who? You were the one practically breathing fire on them before we went to sleep!" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tommy wince a little at the exaggeration. Zoe saw it too, and smiled apologetically. "Oops. Wrong choice of words... Sorry, Tommy!"

He smiled at us in an, 'It's okay' kind of way before looking to the approaching Takuya. His entire head was drenched, making him looked like a drowned possum. I snickered in a way that made him scowl. "Are we going to eat before we start or just go right ahead?" the youngest asked.

Takuya grunted and shook his head, spraying the rest of us with water. Zoe and Tommy yelped while JP backed away with a scowl. I just laughed. "They're hiding from Alex because she went all 'mama bear' on them." My smile turned into a scowl in half a second. Takuya smirked wickedly at me. He knows damn well that I hate being called a mama bear. Conniving, vindictive bastard. "We'll start now and pace ourselves. And the first to start complaining gets kicked in the ass." Sad thing? He means it. Takuya hates mornings with a passion that rivals my hatred of exercise. We're both going to have to deal with it. I turned a blank look on JP, just for his reaction, and he pouted at my silent implication but nodded all the same. Takuya led the way up the trail before shocking me by turning right back around to yell, "Thank you everyone!"

His voice echoed, but more little pebbles fell. The Candlemon remained hidden, and we all added our own appreciations and went on our way. Tommy walked next to Takuya, Zoe and JP walked next to each other, and Bokomon and Neemon- who I'd forgotten about, up until now- were bickering with each other. I walked at the back of the group, already sweating. I'm not fat, or even relatively chubby. But being skinny and being in shape are two different things. I could sit on my ass all day and not gain a single pound.

Takuya's probably the only reason I even go outside. If he didn't drag me from my house every weekend for a game of soccer or a volleyball match or just to play tag like when we were young, I'd be an anti-social hermit locked in my room and writing fanfiction, only leaving when I was hungry or needed the bathroom... Now why the hell does that sound so familiar...

A tug on the hem of my shirt made me blink. I looked down, fully expecting to see Tommy, but it was Bokomon who met my eyes. It surprised me enough that I blinked stupidly, and I swear a smirk curled his mouth before he effectively wiped it off. "I wanted to ask about your shoulder, my dear. All that activity last night must have been bothersome for it. And the bandages need to be changed before the day ends."

My... shoulder...? Oh, my shoulder! I'd actually forgotten about it. Part of me worried about that, but the rest of me was thankful for the digimon's worry. "Nah, it's fine. I honestly forgot about it. It hasn't even given a twinge since you put that gunk on it yesterday." I rattled my bag for emphasis. "Speaking of that stuff, can you teach me about it? You may not be around when we need help. I know basic first aid from our world, but your stuff is probably different. And how to read and write your language, too! Hell, teach me everything you can about this place!"

Bokomon rubbed the back of his head sheepishly at the enormity of my request. "I'll do my best, but it all depends on how attentive a student you are. If your studying habits are similar to your habits of pestering Takuya..." He trailed off with a meaningful look, and I giggled nervously. "Well, let's start with that 'gunk' I applied to your wound..."

We spent hours going on like that. He not only told me about first aid, but about the history and different regions of the Digital World. I'm proud to say that not once did my attention span falter. There's just so much to learn, and so damn interesting! There were two divisions of digimon, humanoid and beast. Then the sub-divisions, and there are so many! Angel and Virus, Plant and Bugs, Fire and Water... The list goes on and on!

Bokomon, despite what I would have thought, was a patient teacher. He allowed interruptions in the forms of questions and opinions, and even allowed me to rant a couple of times at the injustices of all the tyrants over time. Turns out that Lucemon and Cherubimon aren't the only digimon who sought dominion over the others. There was one called Devimon, who controlled other digimon with something Bokomon called 'black gears'. Devimon was the first out of many who would try, and consequently fail, to take over. Nearly every story he told involved human children, chosen by whatever divine beings watched over the Digital World at the time.

The humans that were called the DigiDestined almost always had a digimon partner. That's why Bokomon had been so surprised to see Takuya actually turn into a digimon. The fact that it was one of the legendary warriors was only half of it. That led into a philosophical debate on if the warriors could be called their partners or not. And it continued until we spotted a fork in the tracks we were following. Up until this point, we'd been trekking along one road. Now a decision had to be made. Do we go right, or do we go left?

The left track led to a forest. I could see a huge ass tree even from here. To the right... more desert looking wasteland. Jee, such a tough decision... There was a switch right before the split, and Bokomon leaped up onto it. He shifted his weight to make the tracks switch back and forth, going, "Which one, which one? Left or right, right or left, up or down! Better make your decision quickly!" It sounded so much like something the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland would say that I snickered. He hopped down and gave me a look before rubbing the side of his face. "Ugh, I made myself sick..." Don't you dare puke on me, ya' little Radish Head!

Zoe pointed to the left. Takuya, like the true fool he is, pointed right. I face-palmed and started to curse in my head, even as they both said, "This way!" And with that, they proceeded to argue. It couldn't even be called bickering, because they really meant everything they said!

They scowled at each other for a second before Takuya scoffed and said, "You're wrong!"

The blond placed one of her dainty little hands on her waist and stuck a finger in Takuya's face, making him go cross-eyed to stare at it. "Why, just because I disagree with you! Don't you think the forest terminal just might be surrounded by trees?!" Heh, yeah, you would think. Logic and Takuya have never been on the best of terms. In fact, you could say that they have a blood-feud remarkably similar to that of the Montagues and the Capulets in Romeo and Juliet.

He glared at her and insisted irritably, "Trailmon said to follow the train tracks, and your way curves left!" ... What Trailmon? I seriously don't recall there ever being a Trailmon. Was this before Kouji got his spirit, when we were all separated? Or were Bokomon and I so deep into our lessons that we didn't even realize that we'd been interrupted? Takuya huffed and crossed his arms, turning away from the blond. "You think you know everything!"

Zoe's green eyes flashed angrily, and her hands clenched into fists. Her cheeks were starting to redden with her rage, and she took a step towards Taki. I hope it doesn't come to a physical fight. The Italian wouldn't stand a chance. Some guys are taught to never raise a hand against a woman, but a lifetime of being my best friend has pretty much made Takuya immune to that. "I'm right!"

The brunette male turned half-way to look at her from the corner of one brown eye, triumph and suspicion making for an odd expression. "So you wanna go right?" ... I'd beg whoever's listening to tell me that he's not really that stupid as to think she's actually conceding to his point, but I know Takuya better than anyone. That's well within his limits.

Her hands came up halfway and flexed, like she wanted nothing more than to wrap them around Takuya's neck and squeeze with all of her strength. She restrained herself, though I couldn't tell if it was for my sake, Takuya's sake, Tommy's sake, or her own. Take note that JP probably wouldn't care either way. "No, I'm going the way that makes sense! Later!" With that she turned on her heel and marched off.

Takuya scowled at her receding back and barked back, "See ya!", before he turned away. Over his shoulder, he barked, "Come on Alex!" He turned back when he didn't hear my footsteps following him. Zoe stopped as well and looked at me curiously, probably wondering why I haven't already followed him. "Alex?"

I winced at the slightly dangerous tone of voice before looking at him apologetically. "I'm sorry, Takuya, but... but I think Zoe's correct. We should go through the trees." His face darkened and I took a step back, waiting for him to explode. He never did though. Instead of answering me, he turned his back on me and started to stomp away. I did the same, minus the stomping, and passed Zoe on the way towards the trees. She took a moment before following after me, walking at my side but not saying anything. I was thankful.

Behind me, I heard JP yell, "Hey, Zoe, wait up!" followed by Tommy going after Takuya. It worried me slightly that the only two of us that had spirits were going the other way. If luck is on our side, then it won't really matter until Taki comes to his senses and comes after us. But my luck has never exactly been on the 'good' side of the fence, and I've learned that it's beyond stupid to rely on it. It's why I don't ever play cards.

Bokomon and Neemon followed after, and everyone kept quiet. For the most part, at least. The two digimon were whispering back and forth, and I felt them looking at me once or twice. JP tried to start a conversation, but the stupid idiot decided that insulting Takuya was the best way to start. "Wow, what an idiot. I can't believe he went the wrong way! I mean it's obvious this is the right way, right?"

Zoe didn't answer, but gave my clenched fist a worried glance. When he continued to insult my best friend's intelligence, I said bluntly, "JP? Shut up." Lo and behold, he actually did! I was kind of expecting to have to hit him to make him be quiet. Maybe he knew just how close to dangerous territory he was. The wonders of intimidation! He'd probably be able to beat me up instead of the other way around, what with his greater weight and height, but thank God he hasn't seemed to think of that yet.

It didn't take us long to reach the trees. Only about ten minutes, which is actually rather surprising. I'd have thought it would take longer. The train tracks led straight through the village, but we all paused next to a huge wooden sign that had symbols on it. I took the notebook from last night and flipped passed the notes that JP took on the legend of the warrior to write it down. Not that I actually knew what it said, but it would be useful for my lessons about this world.

I was either the only one to see it or the only one to pay attention to it. Zoe's attention was grabbed by the humonstrous tree that the sign was near, and she gaped up at it in wonder. "That is one humongous tree!" She was right. It hurt my neck to look at the top of it. The train tracks we were following led up and over the roots, through a hole in the trunk, and I assumed out the other side. There weren't any leaves on the branches, like all the surrounding little trees.

Part of me wondered about that, but JP stole my attention before I could think any more on it. "So this must be the forest terminal, right?" All of us, even Neemon, looked to Bokomon for either denial or confirmation. I didn't think it was, but I could damn well be wrong. It's happened plenty of times before.

The radish-headed digimon raised an arm towards the sign the other two humans had ignored up until now. He turned his head to me and said a quick, "Take notes, Alex dear." I showed him the page with a cheeky smile, and he nodded in approval. "Good girl." He cleared his throat importantly and said, "This sign here says this place is called Breezy Village." I wrote down the name while everyone else sighed in disappointment.

Bokomon's negative was kind of expected. I didn't see why the other two- three if you included Neemon- were so bummed. If we were only meant to come this far, the person on the d-tectors wouldn't have sounded so urgent. If I remember her tone correctly, it was more of an, 'URGENT! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!' feeling. If this was our destination, it would have sounded more like a, 'Hey, it's me! Just wanted to know if you'd like to come over for some coffee, catch up a little! Call me back, hon!'

"Welcome, tourists."

The voice was so unexpected that I shrieked bloody murder and jumped onto JP's back, clinging to his head and bristling like a cat. JP yelped at my weight and flailed, trying to either knock me off or right his balance. I didn't help with my constant squirming, trying to look behind us while still clinging to him. He turned around and I took this chance to use his head to push myself up and look. Kouji was smirking such a smirk that, if it was just a tiny bit wider, it could be called a smile. And God forbid Kouji Minamoto smile. "Where in the hell did you come from? You were so not there a second ago!" I yelled out, eyes wide.

Kouji sat on a bench across the tracks from us, his arms casually thrown over the side. He looked the same as he always did: black hair shiny and smooth, clothes unruffled, and one leg crossed over the other. His eyes glinted in amusement that probably only I knew was there. For some reason, I've always been better at reading him than others. "I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." He actually totally could, too. Whether he would or not is another matter entirely. "So this isn't it." Bokomon shook his head in a negative.

Zoe gave a girly giggle that made me blink at her, still sitting on JP's back. At least he'd stopped flailing. "Hey Kouji, what's up?" Kouji stood from his seat and leaped down onto the tracks. Unlike with Tommy and Takuya, I didn't freak out this time. Kouji was smart enough to watch where he was walking. He began to walk away without looking at us. I was fine with letting him go. Don't get me wrong, I had no personal problems with the guy. But if he doesn't want our company, then who are we to force it on him? Zoe didn't agree with this philosophy, however. She called out after him in confusion, "Hey, wait, where're you going?"

I almost cringed at the coolness in his tone. It wasn't the coldest I'd ever heard his voice, but it most definitely got his message across. "Where I go is my own business. Thanks for asking." I wasn't expecting any different. If he had responded in any polite way, I'd worry he was hurt or sick. He walked away again and Zoe let him this time with a huff.

JP, ever eager to please the pretty blonde, crossed his arms behind his head and said loudly, "He reminds me of white chocolate: looks good, but has no taste."

Says the boy in the blue and yellow jumpsuit. Still, why let this opportunity pass even if Takuya's not here? Keeping a careful eye on Kouji's retreating back, I said back to JP in the same volume he'd used, "Wow, JP, I didn't know you swung that way." There! Just the briefest pause on Kouji's part was enough to make me beam proudly, even as JP spluttered and turned crimson. I jumped from JP's back and danced away from him, deciding to take their attention off of Kouji's retreating figure. He didn't like being watched, I knew that much. "Yeah, that's right, I went there. What'cha gonna do about it, huh?"

He looked damn near close to having his head explode. I'm sure my devious little smile didn't help him at all. Zoe shook her head with a sigh and got between us. Her look warned me to knock it off, and I shrugged at her. I wouldn't give a fake apology. I mean, I didn't really think JP swung that way, but it was all meant in good humor. I know we haven't really known each other that long, but she should already know that about me. "Do you make a habit out of pissing off your friends?" she asked in exasperation.

Without missing a beat, I shot back, "Yes actually, I do! It's how I show affection." I swooped down on the closest of our two digital companions- which happened to be Neemon- and brought him up into a bone crushing hug. "Neemon, I love you!" I cried, swinging him around like a ragdoll. Despite their annoyance with me, both humans started laughing at Neemon's distress. Never let anyone say I didn't know how to dispel tension.

Neemon waved his arms to get away from me. His eyes bugged wide and bulgy, like I was squeezing all the air out of his head. He probably had more air than brains in there, anyway. "L-let me go! I can't breathe!" Without further adieu, I dropped him. Just opened my arms and thump, he fell on his fluffy bunny tail. He scurried to hide behind a smirking Bokomon and crouched there, trembling comically. "Sh-she scares me."

Mission accomplished, then. Fear my weirdness, mwahaha! Bokomon cleared his throat a little and, without looking, kicked Neemon away from him. He looked around at the barren trees while ignoring his friend's pained whimpering. "This isn't quite right. Breezy Village is known for it's spectacular view of lush forest greenery, but there's not much to see."

A sign on a nearby building half-fell, creating a crunching sound from dry bark falling. The place looked like such a ghost town that I couldn't help the slight startle I gave. Unease began to gnaw at me, and I instinctively looked around for Takuya. Only then did I remember that my best friend had separated from me. I'd never felt so alone as I did then, knowing he was angry with me. I may have picked on him a lot, but that didn't mean I didn't love him... as a friend. In a totally platonic way...

JP seemed to have the same reservations about the village as I did, though not for the same reasons. His nose wrinkled a bit in distaste. "See what, a garbage dump?" Zoe started jogging away, towards the big tree, and he followed after her like a lost puppy. "Let's check it out Zee!" I was about to follow him when this weird sound emitted from his pocket. He stopped and pulled his d-tector out. "Weird, my d-tector is doing something!" He looked at me, like I knew what the hell was going on. I shrugged at him, just as confused. "Maybe my spirit is around here somewhere!"

The joy in his voice made me smile. He was the oldest out of the group, but that didn't stop him from being just as excitable as the youngest. "Maybe. Why don't you go find Zoe and show her? She might be impressed!" If he detected the slight patronizing tone, he didn't take offense to it. "She went towards the huge tree. Maybe she wanted to get a good view!" JP nodded happily and ran off, pumping his beefy arms to go faster.

He could find her himself. If Zoe really did go up into the branches, the only way I was going up there was tied up and unconscious. I felt much safer with my feet firmly on the ground than I did up high. Besides, this was the perfect time for Bokomon to check on my shoulder and continue my lessons. The digimon apparently read my mind, because he made a grab for the back of my shirt and dragged me over to the bench Kouji had recently vacated. "Honestly, my dear, what are we going to do with you?" he tutted, though the amused glint in his black eyes didn't go away.

I totally would have answered with a smart-ass comment too, but a sudden scream from above made the both of us bolt up. Zoe was falling. _Zoe_ was_ falling_. Had she slipped? Oh hell, it didn't matter, because the blonde was zooming towards the ground and giving such a high-pitched, terror-filled scream that it echoed slightly through the trees. My legs started running on their own accord, but there was no way I would get to her before she went splat against the ground.

She hit a root and slid along it, still screaming wildly. The ground was suddenly covered in red flower-looking digimon, and Zoe slid off the root to land safely among them. She looked at them curiously and looked about to speak, but she instead yelped loudly when I tackled her into a hug. "Ouch! Alex, hey, get off!"

I did, but only to hold her at arm's length and scan her over. "Are you okay? What the fuck happened? Don't you ever do that again, Zoe Orimoto! I thought you were going to die! How would I explain that to Tommy and Takuya?! 'Sorry, Taki, but gravity just decided to be a bitch today!' Nuh uh, no way, that ain't gonna fly!" Zoe blinked in shock, but I pulled her over to a bench and pushed her down. "Does anything hurt? Aside from your ass, which I'm sure is throbbing from colliding with a hard surface like that root."

She shook her head and tried to protest, but I touched her ankle and she winced. "Crap. I slipped off of the branch when JP came running and saying his d-tector was doing something. You don't think I hurt it too badly, do you?" I gently touched her at different places and watched her reactions. The place I'd first pressed got the biggest reaction.

I eventually shook my head. "No, it's fine. Just a little sore. There might be some slight bruising, but that's it. Just keep your weight off of it for about half an hour and you should be good. Tell me if it swells up, though. Then we'll have to ice it and wrap it up." JP came running towards us, a frantic look on his face. "She's fine!" I called to him. "She can't put weight on her foot, though. Since it's your fault, help her around."

He grumbled for a bit before helping Zoe up. She leaned some of her weight on him and smiled at me in thanks, but I shook my head and pointed at the flower-digimon. They hadn't moved much since I'd dragged Zoe away to look at her ankle, just shifting to watch us. At the attention, they all smiled and waved. Their hands were flowers as well, but they had blue petals instead of the red ones on their head. Their feet were root-like in appearance, making me think they dug their toes into the ground for nutrients like any plant would.

One of the digimon came over to us with a cheerful smile. "Welcome to Breezy Village! You're the first friendly faces we've seen in awhile!" First friendly faces, huh? Somehow, that didn't make me feel very safe... "We Floramon welcome you! Please, enjoy your stay in our home!" She bowed at her waist, and the other Floramon behind her echoed her statement while copying her.

Another Floramon, smaller than the rest, suddenly appeared at our side. She tugged at my hand, a cheery smile on her face, and cried, "Come on, you must be hungry! We'll fix you lunch!" I instinctively tried to protest, honestly not wanting to impose. The thought that this might be a trap didn't even cross my mind. But the flower-headed digimon turned a wide-eyed, pleading stare on me. My insides melted, the way they always did when a child begged something from me. Takuya had always joked that I'd spoil my children rotten in the future, but everyone knew he was probably right.

I relented with a sigh and a nod. Chibi-Floramon, as I was going to call her now, cheered loudly and downright dragged me behind her towards a building. I heard the snickering of all four of my friends and tossed an annoyed glare over my shoulder. Zoe was using JP's arm as an improvised crutch and both were following after me. Neemon and Bokomon were carrying my bag between them, since it was too big for only one of them. Both of them, even the clumsy bunny digimon, were being careful to not break the jars of medicine inside.

Chibi-Floramon pulled me inside. The room was nicer than I would have thought, considering the debilitated state of outside. It was big enough to fit all of the Floramon, who filled in after us. Zoe was the first to sit down. She pulled her hurt foot onto her lap, massaging her ankle with a wince that slowly relaxed. The rest of us took our own seats until we formed a star-shape. The blonde sighed and leaned back against her chair, keeping her legs crossed. "My ankle already feels better. I just had to massage the kinks out of it."

Good. We could move on then after eating. I didn't want to wait for her to heal, as callous as that made me seem. Then again, I could guilt JP into carrying her until she was completely better. "I still want you to be careful. We can't afford injuries this soon into our journey." Bah, like I could talk. I'd gotten hurt on our very first day here. Bokomon gave me a meaningful look and I sighed. "Yeah, yeah. You can look at my shoulder when we finish eating."

The Floramon were bustling about, calling to each other in high-pitched voices. Chibi-Floramon stayed with us, gazing at the humans among the group in childlike wonder. "Are you humans? Where did you come from? I've never seen a human before! You look weird!" The bluntness made me giggle, and I had to cover my mouth with my hand when an older Floramon came over to bonk the younger one on the head. Chibi-Floramon whined and rubbed her head, looking up at her elder with a pout. "What was that for?! I was just asking them questions!"

The older one glared at her sternly. "Rude questions! You aren't excused from your chores just because you digivolved yesterday!" She shooed Chibi-Floramon away before turning to smile at us. "I apologize for her! Usually my daughter isn't so ill mannered! Your food will be here in just a moment!" But... but we didn't order anything... And I just realized, we don't have any money either! Almost in answer to my thoughts, she smiled and said, "The house special is free today. I hope you don't mind us taking the liberty of choosing your meal!"

Zoe shook her head with a friendly face. "No, it's fine! It's really thoughtful of you guys to invite us for lunch!" Five bowls of yellow-colored liquid were put in front of all of us. JP drooled at the sight of them and, without a word or a single manner in sight, dug in noisily. Zoe took an experimental sip of her soup and gasped in delight. "Molto bouno! Yum!"

JP stopped eating long enough to look at her in a mixture of confusion and curiosity. "Melt-o what-o?" Haha, dork. I don't know why, but his cluelessness amused me.

I answered for the blonde, eating my own soup slowly. "Molto bouno. It's Italian for very good. Right?" I looked to the other female, who nodded. "Délicieux is French for delicious. Which this is!" I copied JP and slurped my from bowl loudly. "Seriously, it's freakin' awesome. What do you call it?"

Mama-Floramon, as I'd mentally dubbed her, chirped an answer while her daughter brought over a couple of orangy-yellow fruits. She seemed to be having problems carrying them. I reached over to maybe try and help, but she gave me such an adorably cute glare that I sat back with an indulgent smile. "We call it Clam a la Floramon! It's all in the way it's prepared!" Mama-Floramon took one of the fruits, which apparently was the signal for the other Floramon to come forward and take their own.

Another Floramon continued where Mama-Floramon left off. "Allow us to demonstrate!" On every Floramon except for the child one, two petals from their heads lifted up to show an empty space. I'm serious, a purely empty space. No brain, no skull, no muscle, no anything. I guess it makes sense. When digimon were killed, they turned into data, right? Meaning they'd have no use for skeletons or blood. Still weird though. All of the Floramon placed the fruit into their heads and the petals lowered down.

All at once, they started to dance. It was such a generic 'blah' sounding tone, not like the chanting of the Candlemon from last night. I had no urge to join in, especially after one counted down and they started singing. "When you take a little clam fruit and you mix it in your stew, you make the most delicious soup, the flavor's never dull. We shake our heads both up and down and sing this song more tuneful, a little bit of us resides in every yummy spoonful!"

Mama-Floramon stood on one foot for a moment before smiling at us. "And, done!" She walked over to Zoe's empty bowl while a different one came up to me. Both went up on their toes and bent over the dish, the yellow soup flowing from their noses in a smooth stream. "It's fresh! Enjoy!"

Zoe and JP looked a little green, now that they saw how the soup was made. I sympathized with them, but that was no reason to be rude! At least it didn't have bugs or dirt or spit in it, which is a lot more than we can say for some of the things I've been served in fast food joints! ... No, seriously. I once found a fried roach. It was gross and I'm pretty sure it traumatized me. I shrugged a little and drank some more, only registering the shocked looks of JP and Zoe after I finished. "It may not be appetizing, but it's something for our bellies to digest. Who knows when our next meal will be?"

That seemed to make them rethink, looking at their dishes in wariness. Zoe finally picked up her bowl and started chugging it. Some slipped down the sides of her mouth, but the blonde apparently didn't care anymore. JP, with a look of much reluctance, followed her example. I wordlessly handed over a bunch of napkins to them, a small smile on my face. At least they were willing to listen to me on faith.

When we were done eating, all but Chibi-Floramon and my group's two digital friends went outside. Bokomon had insisted on looking at my shoulder, since he hadn't been able to earlier. Since Neemon hadn't left either, I was beginning to think he followed Bokomon everywhere. Chibi-Floramon looked on in wonder while Bokomon, standing on the table, undid my bandages. "Wow. How'd you get hurt?"

I smiled at her and pulled a chair closer, patting it in welcome. She got the hint and hopped up, still watching me curiously. "Sometime yesterday, I'm guessing around noon-ish..." I told her about JP and Tommy, the Pagumon- as Bokomon had ended up telling me the gray blobs were called-, and Kouji. And just to be dramatic, I threw in a bit of flair. I'd just been describing what Lobomon looked like, making him sound more angelic and beautiful than he'd actually been, when the building suddenly rocked from an explosion outside.

My chair fell to the ground with how fast I stood up. Chibi-Floramon looked up at me in fear, and I gave a quick, "Stay here!", before running outside. Bokomon and Neemon followed me, twin looks of dread on their faces. The outside looked way better than it did before. Flowers were planted all over the place, pretty blues and reds and yellows. The Floramon, plus Zoe and JP, had smudges of dirt all over them, proving they'd all been hard at work. But there was a cloud of dust where JP was scrambling away from on all fours, expression panicked and fearful.

Snickering came from the dust clouds, evil laughter that sent a shiver down my spine. The dust settled, and three mushroom-looking digimon stood there. They were all identical, even the white circle patterns on their purple caps. Their skin was cream-colored, an off-white sort of shade, and they wore matching red boots and gloves with studs and skulls. They leaped, one by one, into the air, and introduced themselves one at a time. "We are-" "the Mushroomon-" -"Brothers, yeah!"

All of the floral digimon all had reserved looks, like this happened often. All at once, they chimed in their high pitched voices, "Oh no, not again!"

The Mushroomon Brothers all landed on branches to trees, giving the entire clearing arrogant, malicious looks. They continued their routine from before, one of them starting a sentence and the other two completing it. That's going to get really annoying really quickly. "We thought you understood-" "-that planting trees and flowers-" "-was a big waste of time!"

Mama Floramon stepped forward, pleading with her eyes. The only reason I could pick her out of the crowd is because of her voice when she begged, "Please don't wreck our plants!" Desperation colored her tone. Despite her being a grown digimon and not a child like Chibi-Floramon or Tommy, I still felt the need to charge in there and... and... do something! I'm not sure what, but if there's one thing I've picked up from Takuya, it's the reckless impulse to charge into things head first and make shit up as I go!

All three Mushroomon sneered and leaped once more into the air. While airborne, they all threw yellow mushrooms at the ground and yelled, "GIGGLE GRENADE!" They rebounded off the ground and into the space above all of the Floramon and exploded into yellow dust-like particles. The stuff floated down softly, like golden snowflakes but more... menacing, I guess is the word. Out of curiosity, I held my hand out and let a bit pile onto my hand. It looked like... like... pollen. Which meant...

My eyes snapped over to the Floramon just as they all burst out laughing. JP and Zoe looked at them, JP in annoyed confusion and Zoe in worried confusion. Zoe turned around to look at them all, her head tilted to convey her vexation. "What's so funny? They're trouble!" she asked them all.

I let the 'pollen' fall from my hand and glared at the smirking Mushroomon. I'm glad I told Chibi Floramon to stay inside. She shouldn't have to see this. "It's the pollen from their Giggle Grenade." I told them. Everyone turned their attention to me, even the giggling Floramon. Apparently, no one had heard me come out after the first explosion. I took a few steps toward the fungi digimon, my hands clenched into fists. "I'm not sure how, but that attack of theirs causes Floramon to lose control of themselves. Think of it like the happy gas you get when you go to the dentist."

Comprehension dawned on the two humans' faces. The trio of brothers landed on the ground, looking annoyed at my interpretation of their attack. "Very good, human. And you'd be laughing too if you were a Floramon! Our Giggle Grenades keep them in a good mood."

Another one put his hands on his 'hips', or whatever hips they can have being mushrooms, and gave a haughty, 'in your face we won bitches what'cha gonna do now' look. That was what it said to me, of course. It could have meant something entirely different to everyone else. "They get so tired from busting a gut, they can hardly move! Let alone plant flowers!"

Mama Floramon gained enough control over herself to gasp out, "What did we ever do to you to deserve all this meanness?" She had tears in her eyes, though I can't say whether they were from the laughter or the pain of watching their hard work go to waste. "We used to greet the visitors at the station together, remember?!" She paid for her moment of solemnity by laughing harder, holding onto her sides. I felt pain just watching them.

Another Floramon took over, leaning on another laughing Floramon to keep from falling to the ground. "She's right! In those days, you were a real fun guy!" I thought I saw something from the corner of my eye, but nothing was there when I looked. Maybe the Giggle Grenade was affecting me, just not in the same way it was to them. I could have sworn I'd seen Kouji's navy jacket, but he was long gone. There's no way he knew what was going on... right?

When I looked back, the Mushroomon all had ugly- or uglier, depending on your point of view- looks on their faces. The one who I assumed was the leader held up a fist in the Floramon's direction, jealousy tinted in all three pairs of eyes. "You Floramon were always more popular with the tourists! They always liked you better!" Hey, just throwing this out there, but maybe it's because they smell better? Flowers versus mushrooms, which would I rather have surrounding me while I eat?

The other Mushroomon took up the complaints. "No matter how hard we tried to please those looky-loos, they thought you Floramon girls were cuter and nicer than us spore guys!" Once again, I wonder why... You're not exactly being friendly to us, now are you?

Mama Floramon disagreed with their claims and took deep breaths to try and stop laughing long enough to get her point across. It didn't work as well as she wanted to, as she was still giggling, but at least her words were understandable. "But that's not true! They liked you too!"

The other Floramon all nodded, agreeing with Mama Floramon. Another Floramon added her own encouragement while laughing. "And your mushroom mousse was so popular with the tourists. They liked it better than our soup."

From the looks on their faces, I was forced to assume that the Mushroomon Brothers weren't buying the Floramon's words. Their mouths twisted like they'd just tasted a War Head. You know, those sour little hard candies you suck on? I would have said 'sour lemon', but that's kind of repetitive. "That's enough!" the leader yelled. He leaped into the air with a different colored mushroom and called, "MUSHROOM MASH!"

The crowd split with cries of distress. JP had a delayed reaction, and only just dived out of the way of the attack. The shed he'd been standing in front of was utterly destroyed, dirt and dust flying everywhere. A wooden board came my way and I ducked to the ground, letting it fly straight over my head. Everyone stared where the building had just been, dismay on every face that didn't belong to our offenders. "They're toasting this place like an English muffin!" JP cried. Even during a battle, everything leads back to food with him. If nothing else, his dedication is admirable.

The three Mushroomon went back to how they'd spoken before, one starting and another taking over and the third finishing it up. "It's over! We've had it with your flower power-" "-and we're gonna-" "-totally flatten Breezy Village!"

A brief commotion from the trees made me make the mistake of looking over. It wasn't a mistake because the Mushroomon were attacking- we seemed to have come to a stare off with them- it was a mistake because I regretted seeing what was happening. It seems Neemon had said something stupid again, because Bokomon was abusing the poor bunny digimon. He was spouting off stuff about this digimon called Cherubimon. Walking a little closer to them to hear better, since the name sounded familiar, I heard Bokomon start speaking in his lecturing voice. "How could anyone like Cherubimon ever slip your mind? He's the source of all that is evil in the digital world!"

Cherubimon... Cherubimon... Had Bokomon mentioned him during our lessons and I just forgot? It was itching at my brain like a mosquito bite, but I just couldn't remember. Bokomon continued to glare at Neemon, expecting a reaction to the news. Neemon completely blew him off by pointing back over to the others. "Look, she's starting a parade!" ... Did Bokomon snap your pants too hard this time, Neemon?

Giving the bunny the benefit of the doubt, I looked back to them all and saw Zoe marching up towards the lead Mushroomon with an angry face. "Hold it!" she yelled. All three fungi digimon watched her in surprise. It was probably the first time they'd seen a human, if the other digimon were an indication. It was also probably the first time anyone had went up to them after an attack. Two firsts in one day, how about that?

One of the Mushroomon snapped out of it and scowled at the blonde. "You just stand aside, girlie!" Smack. I wasn't the only one to gape at her. Zoe slapped him so hard in the face that he fell back against one of his brothers, who seemed quite confused on what to do. Attack, not attack, verbal bashing, what?

The other brother didn't seem to have that problem and stepped in front of the other two protectively. "Hey, that's my brother! Why'd you slap him?" Better question. Why didn't someone slap him earlier while he was threatening everyone? Instead we all just stood around with our mouths hanging open. Are we really that useless without a spirit? A nasty little voice in my head whispered, 'You're even more useless. Without a d-tector, how are you going to help any of them?'

It was ruthlessly crushed down and was effectively silenced by the time Zoe spoke. Which only took a few seconds, actually. I'm so used to that stupid little voice popping into my head and telling me shit I don't want to hear that I don't even need to work to make it shut up. "You need to learn how to get along!" Queue awkward stare. Like they had no idea what she was talking about. "Just because you feel like you've got the short end of the stick doesn't mean you get to go around destroying things!"

From where I stood, I added my own thoughts as well. "Fighting rarely solves anything, for both parties. It just ends up bringing more violence and hatred. We should know, our world solves nearly everything with violence."

Zoe nodded agreement, her hands on her hips in self-importance. She stared at the Mushroomon in expectancy, waiting to see what they would do. The fungi digimon exchanged looks, as if they were actually thinking over our words. JP, though, decided to throw all that away. He went right up next to Zoe, a glower on his pudgy little face. "Yeah, so listen up! You toadstool heads can't just go barging in with your purple mushroom caps because they're just plain ugly!" ... JP, you stupid, ignorant, dumb-ass... He turned to look at the both of us. "Right?"

The Italian and I just gave him blank stares. I think this is the only time I've given the 'shut up or I'll hit you' look to anyone other than Takuya. Zoe offered a bit more than a blank glare. "You insulted them. That's totally wrong."

JP took a nervous gulp before looking back over to the Mushroomon. Any consideration they'd given to ending this peacefully was wiped away. Anger took it's place. The leader had apparently recovered from Zoe's slap because he pointed at JP with a scowl on his face. "You shouldn't have said that. You're gonna get it!" JP turned and ran with a shriek while the Mushroomon gave chase with a battle cry. Than ran right by Zoe and me, ignoring us completely.

I probably shouldn't have found it as amusing as I did. JP was fleeing for his life and holding his d-tector up, begging the spirit to come help him. The Mushroomon were following after him with growls and grumbles and snarls, calling "Mushroom Mash" with every little bomb they flung. The amusing part was that they seemed to be running in a complete circle. They had the entire expanse of the village to run through, and yet JP decides to stay out in the open where there's little to no places to hide.

So, yeah. Like I said, I found it funnier than it actually was. But even I gasped when JP tripped and his d-tector flew out of his hand. "JP!" Everyone called out. I even started running towards them when a bright pink light suddenly shined from beneath the roots of the big tree. A pink ball floated up into the air and zoomed toward the entire group.

JP scrambled for his d-tector and held it up with a bright smile. "Yeah, my spirit! Spirit evolution!" I couldn't stop myself from looking back and forth from JP to the ball of pink, girly light. If that spirit really was JP's, then I was Santa Claus. Everyone seemed to be so sure that it was his...

... Up until it flew right by him and stopped in front of Zoe. Her d-tector started freaking out and she took it from her pocket, making the spirit fly into it. The female voice from when everyone else changed said, "It is time." The familiar cocoon of data wrapped around the pretty blond. When it disappeared, Zoe was no more.

In her place stood a butterfly slash pixie like digimon. Large white butterfly wings flapped to keep her in the air, and were almost all as tall as her. She was showing more skin than I would have thought Zoe's spirit would. She only wore what was necessary to 'cover the goods', so to speak. A lavender bra with matching panties. Lavender and green stockings covered her legs up to mid-thigh, at which point straps went up to connect to a band of leather going under her breasts. White and rather bulky metallic gloves went up to her elbows. They matched with the white metal guard that went over her eyes. Her hair was a light purple color, not quite lavender but not quite purple, and went down to her knees.

I looked over at JP to see how he was taking it. His expression was a mixture of disbelief and disappointment. It was sort of heartbreaking to see it. I knew how much he'd been looking forward to spirit evolving. JP's blue and yellow d-tector was dangling in his limp fingers, as much use at the moment as his actual cell phone would have been. "Zoe evolved... instead of me..." he said to himself.

To be totally honest, I hated that expression on his face. On any face, really. I went over to stand by him, leaving it to Zoe's spirit to handle everything. I heard Neemon and Bokomon have an exchange before the radish-headed one yelled out for everyone to hear, "She's one of the legendary warrior! She has bonded with the ancient spirit of the wind! She's Kazemon!"

Kazemon, huh? Looks like Zoe got her wish on being a cute digimon. When she spoke, it was in Zoe's exact voice. When Takuya and Kouji spirit evolved, their voices became gravelly and harsh. When Tommy spoke as Kumamon, his voice was a bit more matured. It was odd, to me at least. "Evil creatures, be purified by the wind!" she yelled.

One of the Mushroomon shook himself out of the daze Kazemon's arrival had put everyone in. He leaped into the air with a shout of, "Nice try, butterfly!" His brothers followed after him and all three drew their arms back in preparation to throw more bombs. Streams of pink wind came from each of Kazemon's fingers when the Mushroomon threw their weapons. "Bye bye!"

Kazemon threw her hands down so that the streams criss-crossed, sending blasts of condensed air at the bombs. "Hurricane Wave!" The bombs fell to the ground and detonated harmlessly. The deflection seemed to tick off the Mushroomon Brothers even more. They tried again, throwing the bombs with a little more force than before. Maybe they thought she wouldn't be able to block them in time. Kazemon went into a handstand and spun around with a shout of, "Tempest Twist!" She spun faster and faster until she became something like a pink and lavender tornado.

She knocked the bombs into the air with no problem. Kazemon... I'm not sure how to describe it. I want to say she glided towards them, but I can't really say for sure. All I know is that she was suddenly among the enemy digimon, her feet connecting with their faces in a painful way.

Bokomon and Neemon gasped in shock. "Imagine what she could do with vegetables!" I gave Bokomon a look that said exactly what I thought of that before realizing something. All of the Floramon were gone. Had they run away at the start of the fight? Now that I think about it, they disappeared when Zoe first slapped that Mushroomon. Had they been gone this entire time and no one realized it?

JP brought me back to the 'real world' by beaming in excitement at where Kazemon was still spinning. "And that could have been me!" Gonna be honest, I'm kind of glad it isn't. Not that I ever want to see that look on his face again but...

Kazemon gave a backwards kick, and a flutter of her wings brought her airborne and back to her feet. The Mushroomon groaned where they all laid and pushed themselves up. The two followers looked to their leader with hopeless expressions. They really had no idea how they were going to win. The leader looked at his brothers and self-righteous anger made him puff up.

I knew he was the enemy. I knew that having any emotion other than hostility would end up making me upset when it came time to end the battle. But when I saw him getting protective of his younger siblings, pissed off that they were getting hurt, I gained a little bit of respect for him. Maybe he was feeling something totally different than that and I was just romanticizing, but that's the way I chose to interpret his actions. So nyah!

They all got to their feet and glared at Kazemon before exchanging looks. They had something planned, and the slow, conspiring grins that spread across their faces made me nervous. They looked at Kazemon and the grins turned into sneers. They went back to their 'one of us speaks and the next continues it', and GOD it was starting to get annoying. Not to mention that they had leaped into the air again while speaking. "So what?" "We're not through yet!" "Revenge time!"

Instead of just attacking like they'd been doing, the trio stacked themselves up like a tower. I wondered if they were going to launch themselves now as a single unit, but what they actually did was way more literal than what I thought they were doing. The data shield of digivolution encircled them, and a single digimon took the place of all three. It looked like a giant wooden stump with thick branches for arms.

It hit it's arms against the ground and roared out a wordless challenge to the pixie-like warrior. Bokomon was about ready to give a lecture on this new foe, but I interrupted. "Hold it, I wanna guess!" Bokomon gave me an irritated look, but I completely disregarded his annoyance in favor of listing off names. "Treemon? Stumpmon. Barkmon. Woodmon?" Bokomon blinked at me at the last one, and I actually snorted. "Wow, his name is seriously Woodmon? Bokomon, please don't take this the wrong way, but you and Neemon have the most unique names we've run into so far."

His face said he wasn't sure whether to take that as a compliment or not. He ignored it either way by shaking his head and going on with the short lesson he'd been originally planning to say. "That's Woodmon, a plant digimon. His Branch Bash attack is one of tremendous strength, and his bark is like armor." So it would be tough to beat him. See, this is why Takuya should have stayed with us. His Warrior of Flame-ness would have been handy right then.

Regardless of Bokomon's words, Kazemon ran right up to Woodmon and leaped into the air with a flutter of her wings. "How about a little love tap!" She bumped her hip against Woodmon's... face? Head? I have no idea. Point being, she hit him with her hip and hearts appeared in his eyes. Then she started pummeling her feet against his head, trying to do damage and failing horrendously. "Your bark's much tougher than your bite!" Oh hell, she's getting cocky. This is going to turn very badly very soon.

I didn't know how soon, though. Woodmon went to smack her with a growl, but Kazemon dodged with a small backwards flutter. She did a mid-air backflip, but all that did was scuff up his bark a little. Just enough for me to see a mark. Kazemon seemed to think this was an accomplishment, for she gave an arrogant grin that I only ever saw on Takuya's face and exclaimed, "Man, I'm good!"

I missed what happened after that, but only because I face-palmed. I might have even left a red mark on my face from the force. All I know is that one minute Kazemon the digimon was floating in the air, the next Zoe the human was lying frighteningly still on the ground.

As much as it shames me to admit it, I froze. Even when JP shoved me aside to try and run for Zoe. I only moved when a sudden voice from the more foresty area shouted, "Hey, cut it out!" Kouji. Again, where the hell did he come from?! Not that I'm not glad to see him, considering he was the only one to know how to actually fight. But my point still stands that he comes out of freaking nowhere.

Zoe was getting to her knees with a wince. Woodmon sent another Branch Bash at her, and the blonde barely dodged in time. Kouji stopped near me and I heard him gasp. JP ran at Woodmon with a shovel in the air. "You can't do that to my friend!" He smashed at the digimon's back, but it broke so he was only holding only the handle. Woodmon swatted him away hard enough that he did a little spiral in the air before landing face first in the dirt.

My turn. I took a deep breath and charged forward, ignoring Kouji's shout for me to stop and get back there. Closer and closer I got to Woodmon, not even knowing what I was going to do. He noticed me just as I got close and swung his arm towards me, but I had the presence of mind to fall to my knees, duck right under, and skid to a stop right in front of his face. He seemed just as surprised as I did. We stared at each other in shock before I did the first thing that came to mind: I poked him in both eyes.

Yeah, not my brightest idea. He cried out in shock and pain and flailed his arms blindly. I yelped and barely got away, backpedaling until I was back next to Kouji. He was staring blankly at me, like he couldn't believe I actually did that. "Yes, that just happened. Get over it and spirit evolve!" He smirked at me before raising his d-tector in the air. He was covered by data, and I waited tensely by his side for him to finish.

By the time he did, Woodmon had already recovered from my 'attack' and was glaring at the two of us. Without taking his eyes off of him, Lobomon growled to me, "Get the other two and stay out of my way." I gave a sarcastic salute and ran to the side. Woodmon gave a roar and tried to follow me, but Lobomon yelled, "Hey, pick on someone your own size!" He ran at Woodmon, purely to get his attention.

I trusted him to keep the enemy busy and ran right by them. The enraged yell of Woodmon said I hadn't gone by unnoticed, but Lobomon did a good job at keeping him at bay. I reached JP just as Zoe did, and we each grabbed an arm to help him stand. "Come on. We're too close here." They both followed me to the edge of the forest, where I gave a loud, piercing whistle.

Lobomon took that as a signal to kick it up a notch. Until then, he'd been staying strictly to defense. Now, he switched to offense. Lobomon leaped back to put some space between them and took out the hilt of his sword. The lightsaber beam appeared with a dramatic yell of, "Lobo Kendo!"

Woodmon roared again and tried to smack Lobomon in the face, but Lobomon leaped over and slashed his sword in a downward motion. I had no idea what that was supposed to accomplish, until Lobomon leaped back out of range and shot a Howling Laser straight into it's forehead. The first attack had opened a small hole, exactly where Kazemon had marked it earlier. The second had taken advantage of it, being able to get passed the wooden armor and straight through Woodmon's head.

At first, that didn't seem to do much more than cause Woodmon pain. He cried out, of course, but it soon seemed to fade. It was when he went to attack that cracks appeared around it, and more holes appeared on Woodmon's bodies in areas that neither Lobomon nor Kazemon had even touched. The line of data that signified victory appeared, and Lobomon straightened from the defensive position he'd fallen into. "Obviously, you've been taken over by evil!"

Psh, obviously. If digimon are anything like people, some of them are assholes just because they can be. But that's totally a lesson for another time. Lobomon took Kouji's d-tector from a pocket on his belt and pressed a button. "Shadow creature, be purified by the light!"

He pressed one of the buttons on it and ran the glowing top of the d-tector across the data, making Woodmon dissolve and having the three Mushroomon reappear. They groaned and sat up, rubbing their heads and looking around. It appeared that they couldn't remember what had happened, questioning what happened and if they'd been in a bad dream. It surprised me how different their voices were now that they'd been 'purified by the light'.

The confusion went on, but my attention was on Lobomon. He leaped back to get some space between them all, and data surrounded him almost as soon as his feet touched the ground. Kouji floated there a bit, looking majestic even coming out of a battle. From behind me, JP exclaimed, "Is that all there is to it? That's it?!"

Without thinking or looking away from the Warrior of Light, I responded to him, "To be fair, he has been taking kendo since he was small." In the immortal words of Hagrid: I shouldn't have said that. I should not have said that. I felt their eyes on the back of my head as I went up to Kouji, even as he knelt on the ground. He was breathing heavily, but nowhere near as badly as when he'd first dedigivolved.

Kouji glared up at me when I stood next to him, like he expected me to repeat Takuya's mistake of trying to help him up. Instead, I smirked down at him and said, "So you're a purifier? Do you do water too? Because I'm parched."

He would have hit me in the shins if I wasn't prepared for his half-hearted punch. I backed up and laughed, but a sound from his d-tector made us both look down. The screen was flashing. Kouji pressed one of the buttons, and data spread out on the ground in a giant circle. "Fractal code rendered."

Everywhere it passed, grass and flowers came to life. The data spread to the naked trees around us, and the branches suddenly had rustling leaves on them. Bokomon informed everyone, "Breezy Village's fractal code is returning!" You don't say…

The Floramon came from out of no where, surrounding the Mushroomon happily. All except one. Chibi-Floramon made a beeline right for Kouji, and he fell down when she threw her arms around him. "That was incredible! Almost as good as the story Alex was telling me!" Kouji sent a swift look at me, and I conveniently found the sky rather interesting.

He huffed slightly and placed Chibi-Floramon back on the ground. "That's great, kid. Now go… do something else. I need to talk to Alex." She nodded happily and waved goodbye to me, leaving me to the asshole that was Kouji Minamoto. I smiled sheepishly when he smirked up at me, sitting with crossed legs on the ground still. "You told her about me?"

I laughed a little and scratched my arm; a gesture I did whenever I was nervous. "Well, she asked about my shoulder. I couldn't just tell her part of a story, it wouldn't feel right! And I… may have exaggerated... certain parts of it…" His smirk grew, and I felt my face flare up into a blush. "Oh, shut up!"

Kouji looked like he was about to reply, but I was saved by footsteps coming up behind me. Kouji's face shut down just as Zoe started speaking. "They're all pretty happy, thanks to you." She offered a hand to help him up, one that Kouji glared at before standing under his own power and walking away. He didn't look back or say goodbye, just up and left. Zoe gaped at his back and yelled, "You know, Kouji, you could try being friendly!" Again, no response. Zoe huffed and said, "I don't get him. Why do I try to like a guy that acts like that?"

I didn't even think before saying as seriously as I could, "It's the hair." All annoyance drained from her face as she started laughing. "See how shiny and soft looking it is? Kind of want to know what conditioner he uses." Kouji didn't stop walking or say anything, just lifted one of his hands and flipped me off. Not the reaction I wanted, but still a reaction!

Zoe and I laughed together, even after Kouji disappeared and our friends joined us. JP and the two digimon had no idea what was so funny, and so stood there awkwardly until our humor ran itself out. With a smile, Zoe shook her head. "Alex, you are quite possibly one of the weirdest people I have ever met." I beamed at what I took as a compliment. She turned back to where Kouji had disappeared and said decidedly, "You know what? I don't care what that Kouji thinks. We were a great team."

I couldn't think of anything to say to that without sounding mean. She'd held her own against the Mushroomon, but Woodmon had totally kicked her butterfly butt. If Kouji hadn't showed up when he did, I doubt we'd be having this conversation. Zoe looked at me, like she was expecting me to agree. Then came a voice that it felt like I hadn't heard in forever. "We have returned!"

I spun around so quickly JP had to grab my arm to steady me. There, running towards us, was Takuya. Tommy was running with him, and as glad I was that both were okay, my eyes were for the older brunet. When the groups separated, Takuya hadn't exactly been happy with me. Instead of running to him like I wanted to, I looked at the ground and bit my lip.

None of the others noticed my uneasiness. Zoe took an aggressive stance, feet flat on the ground and hands on her hips. "You blew it! Where were you two?!"

I didn't have to look up to know Takuya was rubbing his head sheepishly. "Well, that's quite a story. After a while, we thought you might need us, so we decided to check back in." I glanced up for a fleeting second, just as his gaze darted to me. Our eyes met for the briefest of moments before I looked away again.

Zoe huffed at the obvious lie. "No, you took a wrong turn and missed a once in a lifetime show!"

Tommy was huffing at Takuya's side and kept a hand curled into the older boy's shirt, as if needing the anchor to stay up.

Takuya didn't seem to mind it, or else he would have told him to let go before responding to Zoe. "Yeah right Zoe, don't try to psyche us out! You know we didn't miss anything!"

The blond grinned triumphantly. "Well, you didn't get to see me spirit evolve!" Both boys exclaimed in shock and disbelief while Zoe nodded, waiting for them to react. They reacted alright, but in the wrong way. They started laughing, not believing she could spirit evolve like they could. I would have stepped in if I needed to, but I knew Zoe could handle it. And she handled it magnificently, chasing the boys around and threatening to whack their heads. "I can't believe you two! You go away and then say that a girl like me can't spirit evolve?! I'll evolve your heads!"

What does that even mean? I looked around for JP, wanting to ask him, but couldn't immediately find him. He was more off to the side, looking away from everyone and up at the sky with his d-tector in his hand. I walked over to him, wanting to see if he was okay, in time for him to ask himself, "Why don't I have a spirit? Someone tell me that…"

He was still upset about that and I still hated seeing that look on his face. I held his hand gently, and he looked down at me. We shared an understanding look and he gripped my hand back, smiling gratefully, when a yell behind us made us look back at the idiots still running around. Takuya was looking at me while shielding his head from Zoe's hat. "ALEX, MAKE HER STOP!"

I laughed in relief. He wasn't mad at me. Thank God. I dropped JP's hand and crossed my arms, grinning back at him. "I'm not sure I should. You deserve it, after all." He whined loudly as Zoe crowed before slapping him a bit more with her hat. I relaxed, more at ease now that we were all back together again. And Takuya being there had nothing to do with it. Nothing at all...

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><p><strong>Pages: 16 on Google Docs<strong>

**Words: 12125 on Google Docs**

**Me: Dear lord, this chapter KICKED my ASS. I was stuck on the same part for the longest time because I just couldn't get into Zoe's head. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the extra super long chapter!**


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